Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja
by Curious Kitsune654
Summary: Never let your guard down, that is the number one rule of a ninja. Unfortunately, Naruto had never been very good at following that rule and pays for it when Nagato seals him away for the good of the future. Thousands of years later, he reemerges to a world much different to the one he left. (New cover made by DylantheArtist, full-sized image on my Deviantart account)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Challenge by ZXAdvent

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 1-

"You are quite a marvel Naruto, to have suffered so much yet still retain your belief so strongly. You all the right to exact revenge against me for killing our master yet refuse to in the name of peace." An extremely scraggly, bare chested redheaded man said from an odd walker like machine while a blue haired woman wearing a long black cloak with red clouds stood beside him protectively. His odd rippled purple eyes were focused on a blue eyed blonde teen boy with whiskered cheeks that stood before him, his form battered, and his clothes torn and bloodied.

"Killing you won't bring Ero-Sennin back, all it will do is prolong the cycle of hatred that he worked so hard to break." Naruto said calmly with just a hint of sadness to it. "So please Nagato, just surrender peacefully and all this madness can end. No more fighting, no more senseless death and destruction." He said while slowly walking towards the pair, making the woman shift slightly in front of the now named Nagato.

Said redhead seemed to consider what Naruto said for several moments before responding. "I do believe… that you can bring the peace of which you speak. Your eyes hold the confidence… no a conviction just like both Jiraiya-sensei and my close friend Yahiko." He said somberly while gently pushing the woman out of the way much to her confusion. "I can also see the hypocrisy of my own actions. I claimed to want peace but in order to do so I took the lives of those undeserving of such punishment. A mistake I will now rectify."

As he spoke, Nagato started doing a series of odd motions with his hands that set Naruto on guard while the bluenette became alarmed. "Nagato! What are you doing? That will kill you!" She exclaimed, much to the blonde's confusion as she tried to stop the process only to get stopped by a wall of black metal bars.

"I know it will Konan," Even while speaking to her, Nagato's eyes never wavered from Naruto's as he continued to make hand-seals. "But before it does, there is one last thing I must do." More metal bars suddenly emerged from the ground surrounding the whiskered teen in a complex pattern of symbols.

Eyes widening in alarm, Naruto tried to jump away only to find he couldn't as the metal markers started glowing a light blue and his feet started to turn to stone. "What is this?!" He demanded.

"A seal," Nagato said plainly as the color seemed to drain from his hair. "I may believe you will be able to bring peace, but not by yourself and not in this time. Be at ease though, as those who perished this day shall be brought back as my final apology."

"No, st-" Naruto was cut off midscream as the petrification spread over his lips.

"Goodbye Naruto Uzumaki, I hope when we meet again in the afterlife you shall be able to tell me of how you succeeded. Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu. FuinJutsu: Chikyū no nemuri no haha. (Outer Path: Samsara Heavenly Technique. Sealing Technique: Mother of the Earth's Slumber.)" As soon as he finished speaking, Nagato passed away with a smile on his face as Naruto was completely engulfed in stone, leaving him as nothing more than a cold granite-like statue with an expression of outrage, sadness, and a slight tint of fear.

By the time backup arrived a day later, all anyone would find was that same statue with the engraving under it reading:

-800,000 years give or take a millennium later-

"'Only one with a pure heart shall reawaken the bringer of peace', or at least that's what I think it says. This is ancient text after all." A mostly bald old man with a thick white beard and holding a large golden shovel said as he looked over the overgrown statue and the writing under it with a critical eye, the florescent moss of the cave giving him plenty of light to work with.

"You shouldn't have a problem reading it then Ruel. Nothing's more arsenic then you are." An orange-haired teen said with a laugh as he flipped a small sword with an eyeball in his hand.

"Archaic you Iop brain," A blonde girl with pointed ears, sharp green eyes, and a bow strapped to her back said with a facepalm.

"That's what I said Eva."

"I wonder who carved this, the level of detail alone is astonishing." A girl with grass green hair, dark brown skin, and wearing clothing made of leaves said as she ran her fingers over the statue's cheek, gently brushing off some of the vegetation to reveal the whisker-like engravings. "It's almost like it's an actual person."

"Well Amalia, given some of the weird, bizarre, and just outright strange stuff I've seen myself and we've seen in the last few weeks, it wouldn't be all that unlikely when you think about it." Ruel said, making the greenette pause for a moment before quickly retracting her hand with a creep out look on her face.

"It's still pretty cool looking," A young boy wearing a large blue hat that reached down to the back of rear said from behind the statue while a small yellow bird floating next to his head nodded in agreement. "And it'll look even better once we get it all cleaned up."

"Eh, might as well, we are kinda stuck in here until the storm passes." Eva said while gesturing to the mouth of the cave where rain could be seen falling in heavy sheets. "Would give us something to do to pass the time, and it's not like Oma Island is going anywhere."

"Ugh, well you and Yugo can have fun doing that, this princess is going to get some beauty rest thank you very much." Amalia said as she planted her hands floor of the cave, a green glow emitting from them into the earth as a large flower full of a cotton-like substance emerged that she promptly flopped onto.

"And us two are going to go get something to make a fire so we can get some grub going, right Percedal?" Ruel said while wrapping his arm around the orange-haired boy's shoulders.

"Hmm, my stomach could use some food in it." Percedal agreed, drooling a bit while his stomach rumbled loudly.

Watching them walk into a deeper section of the cave with a blank look, Eva just sighed in exasperation before turning back to the statue to see that Yugo trying to peel off some of the vines. Giggling softly at the somewhat adorable sight, she reached into her hip pouch and pulled out a dagger she kept in case of emergencies and used it to carefully sever the small connecting tendrils holding them in place.

"Thanks Eva," Yugo said while bundling up the rope-like plants and carelessly tossing it behind him where it ended up conking Amalia on the head. Shooting up with a small grunt, she rubbed the tender spot while preparing to tell the two off only to get cut off by a ball of moss that lodged itself in her mouth.

"Wow, Amalia was right on the detail," Yugo said, neither him or Eva noticing said girl's muffled choking as she struggled to pull the lump out of her mouth. "They even carved out places where his clothes were torn up." He gestured to the spot he had just uncovered on the statues waist. Reaching down and dusting off some of remaining flecks, Yugo yelped in pain as he accidentally nicked his finger on the stone's sharp edge. A few drops of his blood dripping onto the area as he retracted his hand.

"Careful there Yugo, wouldn't want you getting an… infection… is it just me or is the statue glowing?" Eva asked midsentence as she grabbed the hat wearing boy and quickly jumped back. Sure enough, the statue had gained a light blue hue to it.

"Nope, definitely not you." Yugo said as he held his hand up, a similar blue glow on them while Eva pulled out her bow and drew the string as an arrow made of yellow energy formed.

"Bleugh! Would it have killed you to help me?!" Amalia yelled out as she finally got the ball of moss free, only to blink in confusion at their lack of response before noticing their stances. Turning in the direction that they were facing, she blinked in shock at the glowing statue before jumping in surprise as once hidden symbols on the floor also started glowing. "What's going on?" She asked worriedly while pulling out a doll and holding it in a threatening manner.

"Not sure," Eva and Yugo said at the same time, neither taking their eyes of the statue for a moment as they waited for any signs of hostility. Said signs came in the form of black metal bars shooting from the ground, forming a cage around the trio before they could react.

Acting the fastest, Eva quickly shot several glowing arrows at the bars, only to blink in shock as they were completely absorbed without making a scratch. "Wha? That's im-AGH!" She yelled as one of the bars shot out of the ground and stabbed into her calf.

"Eva!" "Evangeline!" Yugo and Amalia cried out, rushing to her side to help, only to come skidding to a halt when she looked towards them. "Eva?" Amalia asked in horror.

Instead of seeing her normal vibrant emerald eyes, the leaf girl saw purple-ringed eyes with no visible sclera. Eva didn't respond to her call, seemingly caught in a trance until a blue ring of energy appeared beside her that Yugo popped out of and tackled her side, knocking her away from the metal bar with a sickening squelch.

It did the trick though as the elf girl's eyes faded back to normal before she released a tired groan and brought a hand to her forehead. "Huh? What? Where… where am I?" She asked, her gaze drifting across the room hazily before settling on the boy sitting on her stomach.

"Are you okay Eva?" Yugo asked, concern clear in his voice as he climbed off and looked towards her leg where a small trickle of blood still flowed.

"Y-yeah, it's just a flesh wound." She stuttered out, still a bit dazed from what happened. Before either could speak further though, a shriek of pain made them snapped their heads towards Amalia who now had one of the metal rods digging into her bicep. A split second later her eyes had changed to those same purple rippled pattern as her arms went slack.

"Amal-GAH!" Yugo had no time to react as another rod got impaled him right through the bottom of his foot.

 _"Ah, aren't you just a little rascal."_

" _Yugo! Come help your pa cook!"_

" _Oh Ruel, up to your same old tricks I see."_

 _"Thanks for saving me! My name is Sir Percedal of Sadlygrove a noble knight and guardian of the Shushu Rubilax."_

 _"Poulters are attacking the Village!"_

 _"DAD!"_

 _"It's wonderful to meet you, I'm Amalia Sheran Sharm princess of the Sadida Kingdom and this is my bodyguard Evangeline."_

" _Where is the dragon? Where is he!?_

" _Stay away from my son!"_

" _Your true family awaits you on Oma Island."_

" _The Black Crow keeps driving everyone off, so trade has been practically destroyed."_

" _Thank you for breaking the curse that ailed us, we are forever in your debt."_

" _We can't just leave the Puddlies to fend for themselves, they need our help!"_

Yugo gasped in shocked as reality slammed back into him suddenly, before yelping in pain as he felt the rod in his foot suddenly retract. Stumbling backwards, he tripped over a stone in the ground and would have fallen to the ground if Eva hadn't caught him. Not far away, Amalia was leaning against the wall breathing heavily as she held a hand to her chest.

"What… What was that?" The boy asked, watching in confusion and suspicion as the black poles slowly disintegrated into dust.

"Not sure, but I have a strong feeling we're about to find out." Eva said, their gazes going back to the statue as it stopped glowing suddenly, revealing the now perfectly clean statue. A few seconds later, the dull grey stone slowly started to gain color starting with the area Yugo had cut himself. The torn-up shirt turned black, a ragged red cloak with black flames, the pants a bright orange. His skin became a moderate tanned color, hair a few shades darker blonde than Eva's, and finally vibrate cerulean eyes.

"-op Nagato!" The teen yelled the instant the petrification had worn off, stumbling forwards a few steps and blinking in surprise as he looked around the cave. "The hell? Where am I?" He asked aloud before suddenly collapsing to his knees as he started to sweat rapidly. "And why am… I so… tired…" *Thump*

…

…

"Hey guys, we're back." Percedal called out as he and Ruel showed up with armloads of dried up vines and roots. However, upon seeing the sight of their friends nursing their injuries, the missing statue, and the unconscious blonde lying on the ground, he felt it prudent to ask the most important question he could think of. "You guys had a fight? Without inviting me?!"

"…Iop brain."

-End Chapter-

AN: Hope you all like my first attempt at a challenge story. While not what I would usually work with, I hope I managed to put it all together in a way you all will like. To clarify, this is happening just a little bit after the group encountered the Puddlies. Thank you for reading and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't straight up hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: The Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 2-

-Last Time-

 _"Hey guys, we're back." Percedal called out as he and Ruel showed up with armloads of dried up vines and roots. However, upon seeing the sight of their friends nursing their injuries, the missing statue, and the unconscious blonde lying on the ground, he felt it prudent to ask the most important question he could think of. "You guys had a fight? Without inviting me?!"_

 _"…Iop brain."_

-And Now-

When Naruto awoke, it was to the feeling of being the sorest he had ever been in his life. Blinking the bleariness from his eyes, he found himself still inside that weird cave he had found himself in earlier, only now he was laying on what looked and felt like a pile of cotton and a slightly ragged blanket covered him from the chest down. Not seeing anyone from his current position but hearing undistinguishable chatter, Naruto to sit up only to wince as almost every single joint in his body popped at the exact same time with a series of loud cracks before falling back down with a grunt.

' _Kuso! Not a smart idea, not a smart idea at all!'_ He thought with a grimace, his muscles seizing up erratically. Thankfully, before he could end up hurting himself, an elf-looking girl and an old man popped into view and held him in place until the spasming settled down. When it did, he took in a few gasping breaths before coughing like crazy as the air irritated his suddenly dry throat.

"Easy there lad, de-petrification sickness is quite the nasty experience from what I've been told. Amalia hurry up with that water! The boy's probably more parched than a desert right now." The old man called out behind himself.

"Calm down you old coot, I got it already." A green-haired girl said as she appeared at his side, a makeshift bandage covering her upper arm, a large cup-shaped leaf in her hands, and an annoyed expression on her face. Kneeling at Naruto's side, she lined the leaf up with his lips and slowly started to pour. "You better be grateful, it's not every day you get hand served by royalty you know." She said in joking haughty tone as Naruto happily consumed the refreshing liquid.

*Gulp, gulp* "Haa… haa… thank you," He said hoarsely with a weak smile, relief rushing through him as the water seemed to sooth the aches and soreness a bit. A smile that quickly vanished however as the greenette was shoved out of the way by the elf-girl who got right up in his face.

"Good, you can talk. Now how about you start answering some questions?" She demanded, her voice and expression completely serious as she looked him dead in the eye with suspicion. "Starting with who you are and why you were imprisoned within that statue."

Not seeing any reason to lie, Naruto slowly nodded his head before speaking. "My name is Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto… I'm a shinobi of… Konohagakure no Sato." He said slowly with the occasional cough cutting in. "I was fighting a man… a member of the Akatsuki who… who attacked my village. He… he sealed me in the statue… I don't know why." And it was the truth, last he had checked Nagato had wanted a certain giant fluffy ball of malice he contained, not to turn him into a lawn ornament.

Her gaze narrowing, the elf-girl opened her mouth to ask something else, but was cut off when the greenette dragged her away with a pointed looked, followed by the old man and a kid with a large blue hat. "Dally, keep an eye on him in case he tries anything." He heard one of them say out of sight.

"No problem Ruel, he won't get past me." An unknown male voice said before an orange hair guy holding a small dagger-like sword with an eye walked into view with a cocky smirk.

"Yeah, cause dealing with a sickly blonde brat will be sooooo hard." A deep sarcastic voice said from the sword as the eye flickered from Naruto. "I'm shaking in my prison just thinking about it."

"Oh shut it Rubilax, no one asked for your opinion!" The assumed to be Dally yelled at the sword before plopping down just at the edge of Naruto's vision where he proceeded to get in an argument with his sword when it insulted him again.

' _Oh great, another freaky sword. And to make it better this one can even talk.'_ Naruto thought with a mental groan, thinking back to all the other unusual weapons he had to deal with such as Samehada and the Kusanagi before shaking his head.

' _Ugh, not the time for reminiscing, I need to find out if Konoha is alright.'_ He berated himself. ' _Now think, you're extremely exhausted for some reason and need to recover fast. Hm, can't get the Kyuubi's help as he's probably still pretty pissed earlier.'_ Naruto thought with a frown before mentally slapping himself. ' _Duh, senjutsu! The natural energy should speed up my recover a lot.'_

With his plan of action decided, Naruto took a long deep breath while closing his eyes. A second later, his entire body went deathly still, with even his breathing seeming to halt as he slipped into a meditative trance and began to draw a minute amount of natural energy into his body.

-With the others-

"What is wrong with you Eva?" Amalia demanded after dragging Eva to another part of the cavern, Ruel and Yugo standing behind her. "Can't you see he's exhausted? He needs to be resting not dealing with you interrogating him."

"I'm just being cautious Amalia. We have no idea who this guy really is or if he's actually telling the truth. For all we know, he's a homicidal maniac who was turned into a statue as a punishment." Eva retorted with a huff as Amalia cringed at the thought. "And so far everything he has told us sounds like a load of dragoturkey dung. I for one have never heard of a place called Konohagakure or of this Akatsuki before, have you?"

"If I may cut in," Ruel said as he got in between the two girls with his arms held up in a placating manner. "While I have never heard of them in such phrasing, I do recognize the words themselves. They're ancient tongue." He said, earning intrigued and confused looks from the trio.

"You mean like the writing where his statue was?" Yugo asked, getting a nod.

"The very same Yugo, which is odd since it has been a dead, almost extinct language for as long as anyone can remember. Some say it even predates the gods themselves." Ruel explained "So that fact this youngster not only knows it but speaks it so naturally is quite odd, especially since he doesn't seem like the… scholarly type to me. He could be a descendent of one of the old tribes, which would explain why his name is also in ancient tongue. Or maybe he's a treasure hunter, which must mean he has a lot of Kam-"

"So what DID he say?" Eva asked pointedly, cutting Ruel off as he was about to go into a rant about money.

"Eh-hem, well I'm a little rusty but I believe he said that his name is either Whirlpool Maelstrom or Whirlpool Fishcake, depends on the context really, and that he is a ninja of a Village hidden by Tree Leaves." The shovel-wielding man stated, earning himself a bunch of odd looks. "As for Akatsuki, it means either dawn or daybreak, again depending on the context."

"…That makes even less sense then when we didn't know what he was saying at all." Eva said bluntly.

"Probably cause the lad's still delirious from de-petrification sickness. An old friend of mine had it once after flirting with a Huppermage's girlfriend, poor fellow thought he was a gobball for three days before coming to his senses." Ruel said with a somber chuckle. ' _I wonder how old Toot is doing these days. Probably still playing Gobbowl with the old gang I bet.'_ "I doubt anything you get out of him will be of any form of coherent until he recovers."

"See, I told you." Amalia said with a victorious smirk as she turned back to Eva. "Now let's just let him rest for a bit. Once he's all better you can interrogate him all you-" The leafy girl suddenly stopped midsentence, her head snapping back towards where their 'guest' and Dally was while a large shiver ran through her. "Do you feel that?"

"What? Is something wrong?" Eva asked worriedly while reaching for her bow, Ruel holding his shovel threateningly, while Yugo's palms gained a soft blue glow.

Instead of answering verbally, Amalia started walking back the way they had come from in an apparent daze. Stumbling past Dally, who was still arguing with Rubilax and hadn't noticed her at all, she soon stood above Naruto with a look of awe on her face. "He's so… so peaceful, so welcoming." She muttered while attempting to get closer only to get held back by Ruel and Yugo.

While they were busy doing that, Eva took a look at Naruto with narrowed eyes as she spotted an odd orange coloration forming around his eyes. Drawing her bow, she pulled back the string as a yellow energy arrow formed and she held the tip right up to his throat. "Stop whatever it is you are doing to the princess right now or else you're going to have a new hole to breathe through." She said coldly, pressing the tip against his neck only to stare in shock when it couldn't pierce his skin.

She was then greeted with the sight of yellow eyes with rectangular pupils as Naruto's eyes snapped open and locked with hers. Faster than the elf-girl could blink, Naruto had gotten within her guard and knocked her an inch the wall with a palm strike to her abdomen. It was only thanks to Naruto's weakened condition AND him holding back a lot that she wasn't a bloody smear.

Speaking of which, Naruto had slowly gotten up on his feet with his legs wobbling badly, his breathing heavy, and sweat already pouring from his brow when he was suddenly bowled over by Amalia after she managed to escape from her friends' grasp thanks to the distraction. Expecting an attack, the blonde prepared to strike her away as well only to be understandable baffled when the girl suddenly wrapped her arms around his chest and started nuzzling her head against his chest with a content sigh.

"Uhhhhh, what are you doing?" He asked in confusion while prying the girl off of himself with his senjutsu enhanced strength.

"So warm, so cozy, so amazing." Was Amalia's response as she struggled to get out of his grasp until he 'gently' tossed her across the room where she collided with Eva and Dally, who had just finished freeing the girl from the wall.

"Okay, I take back what I said earlier. This guy packs a wallop." Rubilax's muffled voice said out from the pile of bodies covering him.

Struggling back to his feet, Naruto turned to the two remaining standing people in the cave, the old man and the hat kid. Seeing their guarded stances but sensing no real hostility from them, he slowly raised his hands up in surrender while his eyes slowly turned back to normal. "Easy, I don't want to fight."

"You could have fooled me," Ruel said, glancing at his down companions while pointing his shovel at the whiskered teens throat.

"I was only defending myself against Surudoi and Happa over there." Naruto said, slowly sitting down as his legs started to give out under him. "They were the ones to jump me out of the blue like that."

"Only because you did something to Amalia." Yuga said while pointing his glowing hands at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't do anything to this Amalia person you keep talking about." As soon as Naruto finished speaking, an arrow made of ice struck his side and caused his body to rapidly freeze over until only his head was left exposed.

"Then you won't mind chilling for a bit and explaining that odd eye trick of yours then, would you?" Eva asked rhetorically while dusting herself off, a small trickle of blood oozing from her lip as she glared at the imprisoned blonde.

"Whatever you say Surudoi-san, not like I have much choice in the manner." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. Despite how he was acting, he was still exhausted as hell and even if the ice wasn't encasing him he doubted he'd make it more than five feet before collapsing again.

"What did you just call me?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh Surudoi-san duh. I have to call you something since you haven't given me your name yet."

"That's not what I… ugh Ruel what did he call me?" The elf-girl asked with a sigh as she rubbed her forehead.

"Ms. Sharp, it's actually quite fitting if I do say so myself." The old man said with a chuckle while Dally and Amalia finally got back on their feet.

Rolling her eyes, Eva stumbled over to where Naruto was imprisoned and crouched down till they were eye level, keeping another ice arrow trained on him the entire time. "Well then… whiskers," A grin spread across her lips when she saw Naruto's lip twitch slightly in annoyance. "Start talking."

"Hai Hai, calm down would you, no need to be so harsh Surudoi-san. The Gama eyes were just a side-effect of Sennin Modo, I was using it to boost my recovery some. I have no idea why it affected your friend like it did…uh we are talking about Happa-san over there right?" Naruto asked while tilting his head towards Amalia as she and Dally finally started to get up. Unfortunately, as the greenette was getting up she tried to use the wall Eva had crashed into for support only for it to end up falling apart into rubble that tumbled all over the orange-haired boy, much to his sword's amusement.

"Yeah, that would be Amalia," Eva said in dull tone as she watched the girl apologize before turning her attention back to the iced blonde. "So what exactly is this Sennin Modo?"

"It's a technique I learned from my summons, the Gama clan. I use it by connecting to nature and drawing in natural energy to create senjutsu chakra." Naruto explained, getting Eva's eyes to widen before she facepalmed.

"…That would definitely explain Amalia's reaction," Ruel said while Eva nodded.

"Yeah, Sadidans are very in tune with nature, so someone tampering with it would definitely make them act strangely. Especially in Amalia's case given she's a Sadida princess." She said while slowly lowering her weapon. "Speaking of which, how are you doing over there princess?"

"If any of you ever talk about what just happened again I'll have you thrown in the royal dungeons until you're Ruel's age!" Amalia yelled with a massive blush on her face as she refused to look at Naruto directly.

"I'll take that as 'I'm okay.'" Eva said with another sigh before sitting down and reluctantly allowing her ice spell to end. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but know I'll be keeping an eye on you Whiskers."

"Whatever you say Surudoi-san," Naruto said while brushing some of the melting ice off his shoulder.

"Now that we've all calmed down, perhaps we can talk a bit more civilly," Ruel said while taking a seat himself, chuckling again when he heard two loud growling noises coming from the pair of blondes as they grabbed their stomachs at the same time. "And preferably over a good meal by the sounds of it."

"Yeah, something to eat would be absolutely delightful right now." Amalia said while plopping down next to Eva, her face still red as she stared at the cave floor.

"Uh, guys," Yugo said, getting everyone's attention. "Shouldn't we help Dally first?" He asked while pointing to the still buried orange-aired boy.

"Don.. worra abo.. meh, thish is no…ing, I'll …e out of he.. …o …ime." Dally's muffled voice called out as one of his free hands made a thumbs-up sign.

"You heard the Iop, he's fine, now let's get some grub going finally." Ruel said while making a simple firepit that he lit by making sparks with his shovel. Then reaching into the bag hanging from one side, he pulled out a variety of fruits, vegetables, and fish that he was about to start frying up when Naruto asked a simple but very powerful question.

"What's a Iop?"

-End Chapter-

AN: Dally's muffled Translation: "Don't worry about me. This is nothing, I'll be out in no time."

Surudoi-san: Ms. Sharp, reference to how Eva kept trying to stab or shoot Naruto with both words and weapons

Happa-san: Ms. Leafy, for Amalia's odd (to Naruto) plant-like attire.

Sorry if this chapter was kinda boring. Eva's reaction is quite self-explanatory, her job is to protect Amalia and as stated in the chapter, Naruto was a complete unknown, so she was naturally weary of him. Amalia's reaction to his sage mode is also pretty simple as if you've watched the show you would see just how connected to Nature she and her kind are. Speaking of, while I couldn't find anything to prove or disprove it, I am under the assumption that Naruto could use his sage mode to boost his healing and recovery rate when used outside of combat. As for his current condition, think of it as that tired achy feeling you get when you sleep in too much multiplied a thousand-fold, and before anyone complains about it, he'll be fully recovered in a chapter or two. Thank you for reading and please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't straight up hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 3-

-Last Time-

 _"Don.. worra abo.. meh, thish is no…ing, I'll …e out of he.. …o …ime." Dally's muffled voice called out as one of his free hands made a thumbs-up sign._

 _"You heard the Iop, he's fine, now let's get some grub going finally." Ruel said while making a simple firepit that he lit by making sparks with his shovel. Then reaching into the bag hanging from one side, he pulled out a variety of fruits, vegetables, and fish that he was about to start frying up when Naruto asked a simple but very powerful question._

 _"What's a Iop?"_

-And Now-

"… You're kidding right?" Eva asked with a dull look before blinking in surprise as Naruto shook his head and kept looking at her in confusion. "You seriously don't know what a Iop is?"

"Not a clue." Naruto said as everyone stared at him in shock, even Dally once he managed to get his head free of the rubble. "Why? Is it something I should?"

"Well duh! They're like an entire freaking race of the World of Twelve! What next, you going to say you don't know what a Sadidan or a Cra is?" Amalia asked rhetorically.

"Nani? A what now?" Naruto asked, getting the greenette to drop her jaw.

"…"

"…"

"How long were you in that statue?" Ruel wondered aloud, getting a shrug from the whiskered blonde.

"I don't know, a week or so probably since I'm so tired I'd guess. One moment I was being turned to stone, the next I was here feeling like I just got finished racing Gekimayu-sensei around Konoha again with boulders on my back… again." Naruto shivered slightly as he remembered being tricked by Kakashi to take that challenge for him. He had won by a hair, but his back, legs, and feet had been aching like hell for two days afterwards.

Ruel didn't even bat an eye at the odd name, figuring it was just a nickname like how he called Eva Surudoi-san. Instead, he sighed as a very likely theory popped into his head. "I was afraid you'd say that. Yugo, looks like you're up for cooking tonight… seems we have a lot to explain to our new friend here."

"Got it, I think we still have all the ingredients for some gobbal stew," The youngest of the group said as Ruel moved out of his way and closer to Naruto.

"Now, to start a Iop is…"

-Three Hours Later-

"…And that's about it." Ruel said as he gulped down a mouthful of stew. He had just finished describing a few of the various races that inhabiting the World of Twelve such as the Iops, Cras, Osamodans, Enutrofs, Sadidans, and Pandarians. Amalia, Eva, and an unburied Dally helped by demonstrating a few of their own kinds unique traits, such as Eva's energy arrows and pointed ears of a Cra, Dally's unnatural strength and his lack of a nose of a Iop, and Amalia's partially plant-based biology and plant manipulation of a Sadidan which Naruto found the most intriguing.

Speaking of which…

"This is amazing, it's like Yamato-Sensei's Mokuton." Naruto muttered, his hand held out while Amalia made a small vine curl around it like a snake. However, after a few moments he pulled his hand away while his confused expression returned. "But still, what you're telling me is a little hard to believe Jiji. Me and Ero-sennin went all over the Yōso no Kuni during our training trip and I didn't see anything like what you've described."

This time, Ruel did show a reaction in the form of a raised eyebrow as he mentally translated what the whiskered teen said. ' _Perverted sage? I wonder why… no Ruel, not the time to get side-tracked.'_ The old man told himself with a shake of his head. "Yes, well that is the part you really aren't going to like. I'm pretty sure you were in that statue for longer than just a few weeks." He said making Naruto tilt his head while Eva's eyes widened in realization at where Ruel was going.

"What, you mean like a year or two?" He asked as he suddenly started to feel uneasy for some reason.

"No…" Ruel said with a sigh, "…I think you were petrified for a few thousand years." As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto froze up for a few seconds before laughing.

"Hahaha! Nice one Jiji, you almost had me with that." Naruto chuckled, a wide grin on his lips that slowly died down as he noticed the completely serious expression on Ruel's face. "You're kidding, aren't you? This is some kind of sick joke, isn't it? Well it isn't funny." Naruto stated angrily while trying to stand up again, only for his legs to give out again and cause him to tumble to the cave floor with a grunt.

"Look kiddo, I get that this isn't exactly an easy thing to have dropped on you, but I swear on my purse that I am not making this up." Ruel said, getting everyone but Naruto's eyes to widen. To Ruel, money meant more to him than anything even his life at times, just like with most Enutrofs. "It's the only conclusion makes any sense since the only way you would be lacking such common knowledge that even a Iop would know would be that it didn't exist before you were petrified."

"Or you guys are just another group of crazy Kekkei Genkai wielders. You guys are practically a ryo a dozen." Naruto said before closing his eyes and going unnaturally still, the reasoning for this becoming clear as a shiver went up Amalia's spine again while his eyes regained an orange hue around them. Eyes snapping open to reveal golden eyes with bar pupils, Naruto slowly stood up and limped off. "I'm done listening to your crazy tales, I'm going to… get back to my village and make… make sure everyone is… alright." Naruto huffed out, his breath already starting to become ragged from walking just ten feet while he leaned against the wall for support.

Rounding a corner, his annoyance grew when he saw the heavy rainfall that was soaking everything in sight. His teeth groaning under the pressure of his jaw clenching and his eyebrow twitching, Naruto barely even registered his fingers sinking straight through the solid granite wall as his hands balled into fists.

Knowing that there was no way he could make it through that mess in his current condition, he reluctantly turned around and limped back into the cavern. However, instead of stopping at the group, he went right past them and headed deeper into the cave. "Well… that went about as well as I expected." Ruel said before yelping in pain as Eva smacked the back of his head. "Hey!? What was that for?!"

"For being a complete idiot. You don't just drop something like that on a person." Eva said scathingly, sure she didn't trust the boy herself, but she wouldn't just up and tell him 'Hey guess what? Everyone you know and love are most likely dead and the world as you know it is completely different'.

Before she could chew Ruel out further though, the Cra was interrupted as Yugo's voice reached her ears. "Hey Amalia, are you alright? You're shaking." Hearing this, she snapped her head towards the pair and saw that the greenette was indeed shaking as she stared at the direction that Naruto had left.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine," Amalia muttered, struggling, and by the looks of it rapidly failing, to resist going after Naruto. "It's just… he feels so… so…" Just as she gave in and started to walk in his direction, the plant girl was roughly pulled off her feet and into Eva's lap and held firmly in place by the archer. "…thanks." She said even as she desperately tried to squirm away.

"No problem," Eva grunted as she struggled to hold Amalia in place.

"Should one of us go talk to him?" Yugo asked as Az, his pet tofu bird, floated around his head chirping quietly in agreement.

"Not right now Yugo, right now it would be best to let him simmer down for a bit." Ruel said, "He just got a lot dropped on him and needs some time to process."

"Well he better hurry, or at least stop using that stupid Sennin Modo thing of his soon. This isn't exactly easy." Eva said after finally managing to get Amalia in a hold that prevented her from moving anything but her head.

-With Naruto-

' _Their lying, it couldn't have been that long. It couldn't have.'_ The blonde thought as he stumbled through the naturally illuminated cave until he reached a nice secluded area with a soft moss-covered floor, ironically the area he had been petrified. Briefly glancing at the scorched remnants of the seals that had once been embedded into the ground, he stepped past them and towards the middle where the plaque still sat.

Sitting down in lotus position in front of it, he gazed down at the words carved into the stone, gently running his fingers over the stone with a look of contemplation. ' _They can't be right. There is no way it's been that long. It's impossible.'_ He thought, not even caring as several small critters such as a glowing lizard and a small black ball of fluff with eyes and eight scraggly legs settled onto various parts of his body. ' _And I know just how to prove it.'_

Closing his eyes, Naruto put his hands into a ram hand-sign as his body gained an almost imperceptible blueish-green aura around it. Eyes closing, Naruto took in a single long deep breath before exhaling just as the aura pulsed outwards. Within his mind, Naruto's already impressive senses were boosted even further. Within seconds, he was picking up every living creature within a thirty-mile radius, right down to the smallest of ant-like creatures.

The sheer number of them was almost staggering, but Naruto was quickly able to sort through them by focusing for the specific signatures that beings of a human being gave off. Since this was definitely the place he had originally been sealed, he should have been able to easily pick up Konoha and its residents.

…but he didn't.

' _Come on, where are they? They should be around here somewhere.'_ He thought, his brow furrowing in concentration as he desperately tried to find any sign of them or the crater that used to be Konoha. He scoured every inch of the surrounding area with his senses, only to come up with nothing. ' _Any second now, I'll find them at any moment and then I can go home, make sure everyone's alright then enjoy a nice bowl of ramen.'_

Despite his attempts at optimism, Naruto couldn't stop the feeling of dread reforming back in his stomach as each second passed with no results. Soon, the pulse died down and his senses died back down to only to normal fifty yards around him. Not willing to give up that easily, he focused more power and released another wave.

-Back with the Others-

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IOP BRAIN DOING!?" Eva yelled as she, Yugo, Ruel, AND Dally all struggled to hold a practically rabid Amalia down as the barely noticeable wave of energy washed over them for a third time.

"How should we know?! Just focus on keeping Amalia do-OOF!" Ruel started to say only to get cut off as all four of them were flung off by large green vines covered in small thorns that suddenly emerged from the ground. Quickly scrambling to her feet, the greenette darted off after the source, with Eva, who recovered the fastest, chasing after her. Rounding a corner, the Cra react just fast enough to catch the plain looking doll that Amalia had tossed at her blindly.

"EEEAAHAHA!" The doll screamed, throwing punches and kicks that Eva barely felt before she tossed it away and continued to pursue. Skidding around a corner, she made it just in time to see Amalia tackle Naruto's side and hug him tightly, startling off the various other critters that had perched on him.

Seriously annoyed, she marched towards the duo with the intent of giving her fellow blonde a thorough tongue lashing. However, once she got close she noticed a key detail that caused her to stop.

'… _He's crying,'_ Sure enough, tears were slowly streaming down Naruto's whiskered cheeks even as his face was set in a look of complete determination and his eyes darted around under his eyelids, apparently completely oblivious to the girl snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. As another pulse washed over her, Eva quickly figured out what he was doing and looked down at the boy with pity. ' _He's trying to find his home.'_

Standing there quietly, she was soon joined by Yugo as he hopped out of one of his portals, Dally who smacked Rubilax against the ground causing the small sword to grow and gain a swirling green pattern over it, and Ruel who held his shovel at the ready. They relaxed however when Eva waved them down and pointed to the two in the center of the room.

Naruto continued his endeavor for almost an hour, with each pulse getting steadily weaker as his Sennin Modo took longer and became harder to charge up and maintain. Near the end it was so weak that Amalia finally managed to come back to her senses and quickly clambered off the blonde with a deep blush on her face.

As the orange pigment faded away, his once again cerulean eyes slowly cracked open to reveal the despair within them as he cried full force. "…no… …no... this can't be true… please no…" He muttered, his body sagging to the floor as the reality hit him. Clenching his fists, he smashed one into the ground with enough force to spiderweb it with cracks. "…no… No… No, No, No! NOOOOO!" Naruto screamed, each word punctuated with a stronger punch than before, causing the ground to crater beneath him from the force.

" _ **NOOOOOOOOOOOO!**_ "

-End Chapter-

AN: Yoso no Kuni: Elemental Nations according to google translate

And thus ends the introduction chapters. Next one will be having the group back on the path with their new companion. But how will Naruto cope with the knowledge that his home and everyone he has ever known is gone and that he has failed his promises? Keep reading to find out. Also, if you haven't read my other stories, I do apologies if this chapter wasn't very good, I'm trying to get better at emotion parts and any advice is welcome. Thank you for reading and please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't straight up hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 4-

-Last Time-

 _As the orange pigment faded away, his once again cerulean eyes slowly cracked open to reveal the despair within them as he cried full force. "…no… …no... this can't be true… please no…" He muttered, his body sagging to the floor as the reality hit him. Clenching his fists, he smashed one into the ground with enough force to spiderweb it with cracks. "…no… No… No, No, No! NOOOOO!" Naruto screamed, each word punctuated with a stronger punch than before, causing the ground to crater beneath him from the force._

 _ **"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

-And Now-

Sunlight streamed through the canopy of leaves, glistening off the numerous dewdrops that had collected on them while a gentle breeze carried along the soft chirping songs of the birds' overhead. All in all, it was a very tranquil and cheery scene that would many people smile.

Naruto was not one of those people at this moment, his face locked in a completely emotionless expression as his bloodshot eyes refused to lift from the muddy ground he was trudging on, dried tear trail framing his cheeks. His movements were stiff and robotic, only truly moving thanks to others nudging him along every few minutes.

"It's been almost three days; how long do you think he'll be like that?" Yugo asked Ruel while glancing back at the depressed teen. After his little tantrum, Naruto had all but shut down, only really reacting to the word around him when he needed to eat, use the restroom, or when something important/interesting was happening. Such as when Dally accidently buried himself via rocky avalanche when he tried to catch a wild gobbal for dinner.

Said old man sighed with a shake of his head. "To be honest Yugo, he may never recover. This isn't something like a friend passing away or a family home burning down. I would rather loose every ounce of gold I own than have to go through what that lad is experiencing."

"Well maybe if _someone_ had a little more tack, we could have eased the news on him a little easier instead of smashing him with it like a rampaging Bwork." Amalia said sourly, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh and I'd just love to hear how you intended to do that your highness." Ruel snarked back with a roll of his eyes.

"Would you two quit arguing already? You've been at each-others' throats all day." Eva cut in from her position at the front of the group with Dally and the talking map. "Besides, we have other things to worry about." She said while pointing ahead, getting everyone, even Naruto, to look to where she was gesturing towards and freeze.

Somehow, the entire area ahead of them had gone from lively, thriving, and beautiful to decaying and shadowed thanks to the unnatural amount of cloud cover, even having a literal line where it cuts off between the two. Situated in the middle of this horrible landscape was a small, bleak looking town with a large ominous castle. "That… is rather disturbing." The depressed blonde couldn't help but mutter, the natural energy in the area making him shiver from the mild tainted feeling it held.

Amalia had a similar reaction once she placed her hand on one of the dead looking trees for a few seconds before recoiling. "Something is very wrong with this place, nature has been twisted here."

"Oi map! Do we really have to pass through here to get to Oma Island?" Dally asked, unrolling the seemingly blank map until an orange smiley face appeared with a mischievous snicker.

"Why of course! See for yourself!" It said before it's appearance morphed into that of an actual map, showing both the area they were in and the place they were headed into. "The only way to go is through the quaint little village of Forfut. Don't worry though, it's a nice place, real lively." As soon a she said this, the dead body of a ball shaped bat with tiny wings landed on the ground in front of them with a sickening *Splat*

"Yeah… lively." Eva repeated sarcastically with a roll of her eyes as she marched forward. "Lets just get this over with."

"Hopefully we'll be able to get something to eat alt least. I'm starving." Dally said with as he held his grumbling stomach.

"No kidding, I could eat a whole gobbal." Yugo added in with Ruel nodding in agreement… after he discreetly ate an entire fish that he pulled out of his bag.

"Then maybe you boys shouldn't have eaten all of our food at once. We told you to be more conservative, now look where it's left us." Amalia told the three off, wagging her finger in front of their faces for added emphasis. "You'll just have to deal with it till we get there."

"Fine, how about we just stop talking about food, it's making me hungrier." Ruel suggested, inadvertently causes Amalia to recoil as his fish-breath washed over her.

"By Sadida! When was the last time you brushed?!" She demanded between coughs as she pinched her nose shut and waved her hand in a fruitless attempt to dissipate the horrid stench. "It smells like something died and was left to rot in the sun for several weeks!"

"Oh quit being dramatic, it's not that bad." Ruel huffed, laughing internally as the simply action made the plant princess freak out even more. "I know, how about you tell us how the you and Evangeline first met."

"That's a little out of the blue, why the sudden interest?" The Cra asked, looking back at the old man with a raised eyebrow.

"Simple curiosity really," Ruel said with a shrug. "Most of us have been travelling together for almost a month now and we still barely know anything about each-other."

Mulling it over in her head for a few moments as she walked, Eva eventually gave a small nod as she conceded to his point. "Fair enough. Amalia and I have been companions since we were little. I was assigned as one of her ladies-in-waiting when just after she turned five." A nostalgic smile slowly worked its way across her lips. "In fact, the first time we met was when she had decided to try out dressmaking by herself."

As the elf-girl spoke, Amalia groaned loudly. "Ugh, not this story, it's soooo embarrassing."

Unfortunately for her, Eva just smirked wider while continuing to talk. "I stood outside her room for two hours with the royal tailors since she wanted the outfit to be a surprise. When she finally did show herself though, it took every single ounce of my etiquette training to keep a straight face at the ridiculous sight."

"Come on! It wasn't _that_ bad, and I was only five for Sadida's sake."

"Amalia, it WAS that bad. That 'outfit' had so many flashy baubles and decorations on it that it might as well been a walking gift shop." The greenette opened her mouth to say something in her defense, but no words came out and she eventually just clicked her jaw shut and looked a way with a huff as her cheeks turned slightly red. "Anyway, like I said it was my first day as a lay-in-waiting, I had no idea what to do when I saw her wearing that silly thing."

"So what did you do?" Yugo asked eagerly, completely enraptured by the story.

In response, Eva burst into a small fit of giggles while Amalia's cheeks turned even redder. "I told her my honest opinion, that she looked like a gobbal. She ignored me however and proceeded to wear the outfit all day as we went around the kingdom. For months, the people called her Princess Gobbal." She said before busting out in laughter, with everyone but Amalia and Naruto joining in seconds later though the whiskered blonde did smile lightly.

"I should have had them all thrown in the royal dungeons! See them laugh after that!" Amalia yelled in indignation, which only caused the gang to laugh louder. "Don't tempt me! I'll do the same to you!"

The group continued to talk as they walked, Ruel told of his times as a bounty hunter with Alibert, Yugo talked about growing up in his home town. Dally even managed to get Naruto to briefly chuckle when he described some of his misadventures before meeting them, such as when a Bwork stole all his kamas while dressed up as a princess.

Eventually everyone had shared something about themselves except for the enigmatic ancient blonde teen, and while everyone was extremely curious about his past, nobody wanted to possibly push the blonde even deeper into depression by bringing it up.

Luckily for them, it was an unnecessary fear as Naruto surprisingly opted to speak without a prompt. "Guess it's my turn then, hmmm…" He rubbed his chin in thought. He was in a slightly better mood as the story telling helped distract him from his depression, if just for the moment.

"Well, there was my first official mission as a shinobi. It was supposed to be a simple escort and protection job for an old drunk bridge builder Tazuna-Jiji. Heh, almost failed that mission before we even left when I tried to pummel him into the ground for calling me short." He said with a dry wistful chuckle.

"You said supposed to be. I'm guessing something unexpected happened." Ruel said, speeding up his stride slightly until he was walking right next to Naruto as they traversed across the dead craggily terrain.

"Right in one Jiji, turned out Tazuna's home Nami no Kuni had been taken over by this cruel midget businessman called Gato. The Teme was rapidly strangling the economy into nothing by monopolizing the fishing and shipping industries. Because of that, Tazuna lied about the difficulty of the mission when he paid Konoha for the protection detail and instead of a more experienced squad he got me and my teammates."

"You had a team? What was it like?" Yugo asked excitedly, once again enraptured by the story though now Amalia had joined him as she stood beside him with an identical expression on her face. Instead of answering verbally, Naruto reached inside his jacket and fished out an old battered photograph. Glancing at it briefly, a somber look settled across his face before he held it out while everyone huddled in for a look.

On it was a younger naruto, roughly 12-13, wearing a bright orange outfit with a large white puffy collar. The picture him was trading glares with a brooding raven-haired boy whose head looked like a duck's rear end. Standing between them was a girl with bubblegum pink hair and an awkward smile on her face while a masked silver-haired man leaned over the trio and ruffled the two boys' heads. "The Teme on the right is Sasuke, the pretty girl is Sakura-chan, and finally the guy behind us is Kakashi-sensei."

"Wow! This painting is so detailed! Its almost like I could walk right into it. You can't even feel the brushstrokes." Amalia said, running her fingers over the smooth surface of the photo in awe until Naruto pulled his arm back and put the picture away. "Whoever made that must have been an amazing artist."

"Not really, watch this." Naruto said while once again reached into his jacket, this time pulling out a small scroll. Unrolling it to reveal a variety of small clusters of odd squiggly drawings, Naruto placed a finger on one of them causing it to release a small puff of smoke. When it cleared, he was holding what looked like a really blocky spyglass to the others with the kanji for 'The Peeper keeper 3,000' and 'Property of Jiraiya' on either side. "Smile," The blonde said as he pointed it at Amalia and Yugo and pushed the button.

With a soft click, a piece of paper slid out the front of the device that he grabbed and started shaking it while sealing the camera back into the scroll. After a minute or so he stopped and held it out for them to see the fully developed image of Yugo and Amalia's confused faces. "Ta-da."

"Cool!" x2

Smiling lightly at the looks of wonder that crossed the group's faces as they looked over the photograph, Naruto waited a bit before continuing. "Anyway, we quickly learned the truth when we were attack by a pair of nukenin called the Oni Kyōdai barely a day after we left…"

The next hour was filled with Naruto telling of the Wave mission. He described how his team had decided to continue on after the revealed falsification, mostly thanks to a combination of Tazuna guilt tripping them and the genin's stubborn nature. Then he told of Tazuna's plan to save his home and the first battle with Zabuza the Kirigakure no Kijin, where Kakashi had gotten caught and it was only thanks to Naruto's quick thinking that they got out of that fight alive while Zabuza fled with a false hunter-nin named Haku.

He even used a technique called the Henge no Jutsu to turn into the people he was mentioning for added affect. Their reaction to Zabuza and Haku were quite humorous, with Amalia shrieking in fear at the sight of the giant blade wielding man and Dally gushing over Haku's appearance until Naruto revealed that the ice user was a guy.

Following that was the meeting with Tazuna's family, the training in the woods where Naruto had to demonstrate the tree walking technique with some difficulty as his control was off for some reason, the talk with an unmasked Haku in the woods, and finally the last battle where Gato, Haku, and Zabuza died.

"With his arms to injured to use and nothing but a kunai in his mouth, Zabuza went right through the entire army of bandits, killing dozens of them before finally reaching that double-crossing midget and taking him out. He died soon after thanks to the wounds he had gotten, his last words being that he wished he would be able to join Haku in the afterlife. I know Haku felt the same as it started to snow moments later." Naruto said, finishing his tale just as they reached the outskirts of Forfut and night fell.

"That… That's so sad yet so sweet." Amalia said with a sniffle as she wiped her eyes.

"To perish in battle in a noble death! Especially when it is to protect your loved ones." Dally exclaimed while taking a dramatic pose until Eva smacked him on the back of the head.

"Not to be the one to break the mood and all, but am I the only one creeped out right now?" She asked while gesturing to their surroundings. The entire village was rundown, with most of the buildings looking on the verge of collapse. Meanwhile the villagers looked like walking corpses, with sickly greenish skin and blank lifeless eyes that stared at the group as they passed with creepy smiles.

"Now that you mention it," Ruel muttered as he adjusted his grasp on his shovel. "We shouldn't doddle. Let's hurry and find an inn, hopefully we'll be able to get something quick to eat before leaving in the morning."

"Yeah, I agreeEEEP!" Amalia yelped when she rounded a corner and found herself face to face with the creepiest little boy she'd ever seen. Stumbling back from the surprise, the greenette almost fell over before Naruto caught her.

"Easy there Happa-chan," He said while helping her back on her feet, missing the light blush that crossed her face at the close contact.

' _Stop thinking about when you snuggled with him! Stop thinking about it! STOP IT!'_ She mentally screamed at herself, memories of those moments playing around in her head. "T-thanks," She muttered quietly while avoiding eye contact.

It didn't take long to find an inn, though food was out of the question as the only thing to be had was a horrible rotten slop called Mamaliga. To make matters worse, they were forced to spend the night after a thunder storm came in out of nowhere. So they rented two rooms, one for the boys and the other for the girls with everyone now fast asleep except for Naruto and Eva.

Said blondes were currently in the hallway, standing just outside their rooms. Naruto had reverted back into his depressed state, but he was still aware enough of his surroundings to notice the discomfort that would cross Eva's face every few minutes. "You okay Surudoi-chan?"

"Yeah, I just keep getting a strong feeling we're being watched." The elf-girl said, her grip on her bow tightening and relaxing as she tried to keep her cool. This wasn't to be however, as several heavy thuds above them immediately set her further on edge.

"Looks like it was for good reason." Naruto stated just as several dozen humanoid creatures with pitch black skin and skull like faces burst through the windows and ceiling. "Wake up the others! I'll keep them busy!" Without giving her a chance to respond, Naruto charged right at the group of monsters.

Ducking under the wild swing of the nearest one, he returned the favor with a strong punch to the creature's torso, launching both it and the dozen or so behind it right back out the window they came from. Naruto then spun around and punted another one right through the ceiling while clotheslining two others.

' _Wow, these things are so… slow, and weak.'_ Naruto couldn't help but think as he calmed down, even looking a little bored as he continued to swat the things away like they were flies. These things were barely moving at genin speeds, their attacks were incredibly easy to predict and avoid, and the few that did land felt like they were coming from a child compared to what he had to deal with in the past.

"NO! EVANGELINE!" That boredom swiftly turned to worry however when he heard Amalia scream from across the building. Bulldozing his way through the horde of enemies, Naruto rounded the corner just in time to see an unconscious Eva get abducted by an unknown caped man in a twirl of cloth as Yugo, Ruel, Dally, and Amalia were being kept back by more of the zombie creatures.

"Cursed ghouls, get out of the way!" Ruel yelled battering an entire swath away with his shovel. "We don't have time for this, that Vampyro guy is getting away!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he put his hands into an odd cross sign as a massive amount of smoke erupted everywhere. When it cleared, both the ghouls and the group stopped cold at the sight before them. The entire building was filled to the brim with copies of the ancient ninja, each one cracking their knuckles in a threatening manner. "Charge!"

"Hai Boss!" x a lot

It was a bad day to be a ghoul.

-Moments later, Ominous Castle-

In a twirl of black cloth, Vampyro and Eva appeared inside a large chamber within the darkly decorated chamber. With a casual flick of his hand, his cloak set the Cra's unconscious form into the middle of a ritual platform that swiftly lit up with purplish black energy. Said energy then proceeded to make her slowly float off the ground as pitch black markings began to slowly worm their way across her form

"Soon, soon my love you will have a new body all of your own." He said in a loving tone as he held up one fist up to his face, revealing a demonic looking black ring stylized like a bat with a round glowing purple gem. As he spoke, a small silhouette of a face appeared with a soft feminine giggle.

"Yes, once the transfer is complete. Then the two of us shall rule over this world together forever my dear Vampyo." The ring said with a dark chuckle, one that Vampyro quickly joined in with.

*BOOOOM!*

"What was that!?" The ring yelled as an explosion suddenly caused the entire castle to shake, swiftly followed by several smaller ones in various different directions.

"Probably those idiots we ditched back at that worthless inn. Don't worry Shadofang, I'll deal with them." Vampyro said confidently, giving the gem a gentle kiss before turning towards the large entranceway as it was blown off it hinges. Smiling widely, he began to prepare his grand entrance…

…only to freeze when he found himself up against not only the group from before but also a literal army of angry whiskered blondes wielding everything from unusual knives to chunks of stone to even some of his ghouls as makeshift flails. Heck the only thing that wasn't being used was the kitchen sink. Wait nevermind, one of the clones near the back just hefted it onto their shoulder after bashing a ghoul with it.

Speaking of which, the vampire rip-off gapped in horror as he saw the complete and total ruin that used to be his castle. "What…what have you done to my ho-AAAHG!" He was cut off as one of the blondes appeared right in front of him and socked him hard in the face.

"You know, I'm normally a really nice guy." Naruto said as he punched Vampyro again as he was trying to get up. "But unfortunately for you not only did you happen to catch me in a really, REALLY bad mood, but you also decided to kidnap Surudoi-chan." This time the blonde hit him with a heavy drop kick and embedded him several inches into the stone floor. "So guess what that means?"

"Wha… wha… wha…" Vampyro failed to say anything coherent as his slowly pulled his bruised face out of the granite. Grabbing him by the collar and hoisting him up to eye level, Naruto grinned wildly while holding up his clenched fist.

"It means you just volunteered to be my stress relief punching bag. And between you and me, I have a lot of kuso to get off my chest."

"…mercy?" Vampyro begged meekly before he almost pissed himself from the blonde's next three words.

"What is that?"

"AAAHHHH!"

What followed was a beating so thorough and brutal, no words could properly describe just it, especially after the clones joined in while the others freed Eva from the dark ritual she was being put through. It only ended twenty minutes later when Shadofang was accidentally dislodged from Vampyro's finger and released a large wave of purple light with a scream.

When it cleared, Vampyro was gone and in his place was a mildly bruised up redheaded man that was groaning in pain while all the ghouls gradually turned into miraculously unharmed regular civilians who looked around the place in confusion. At the same time, the dark gloomy atmosphere that had been encompassing the entire town dissipated within seconds, and life seemed to return to the land.

Completely lost at what was going on, Naruto dispelled his clones and scooped up the ring with a confused look. "What the hell just happened?"

-End Chapter-

AN: Yeah, I'll admit that end bit was based a lot on Naruto's confrontation with Mizuki when he was tricked into stealing the Scroll of Sealing. In my defense though, Vampyro is pretty much a joke in the show given that his one big weakness was a frickin Tofu (The bird not the food), and I just couldn't think of a way to make him honestly more badass. Besides, he broke the number one rule when dealing with Naruto, never, ever mess with his friends. Also, I hope I did a good job portraying how Naruto would act if truly depressed but if you have any suggestions feel free to give them. Finally, if you haven't figured it out, the camera was something Naruto inherited from Jiriyia after he died, cause I could totally believe the self proclaimed super pervert would have something like that. Thanks for reading and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 5-

-Last Time-

 _When it cleared, Vampyro was gone and in his place was a mildly bruised up redheaded man that was groaning in pain while all the ghouls gradually turned into miraculously unharmed regular civilians who looked around the place in confusion. At the same time, the dark gloomy atmosphere that had been encompassing the entire town dissipated within seconds, and life seemed to return to the land._

 _Completely lost at what was going on, Naruto dispelled his clones and scooped up the ring with a confused look. "What the hell just happened?"_

-And Now-

"So this thing is a prison holding some freaky ghost monster thing? And that it made you all evil and stuff?" Naruto asked while holding the ring he picked up close to his face. He was seated at a large table laden with a variety of different delectable looking foods and beverages that his companions were happily digging into.

"A Shushu yes, just like that Iop's sword." The man he had been pummeling into next year, Wagnar as he had introduced himself as, said with a sheepish and slightly depressed manner as he placed a tray of roasted bats on the table before pointing to Dally as he used said sword to spear a chunk of ham. "And I am… was her guardian." He corrected himself with a sigh.

"Hey, you can have it back if you want. I have no use for it." Naruto said while holding his hand out towards the man, ignoring the indignant huff of the ring as he did so.

"No I cannot," Wagnar said with a shake while pushing the hand back. "The moment I let Shadofang's honeyed words get to me I lost any right to be a guardian."

"Donth be sho hard on yourshelp, ich wappens poo the besh of ush." Dally said with his mouth stuffed to the brim with food, earning a smack to the head from both Eva and Amalia.

Taking a moment to translate what the Iop said in his head, Wagnar smiled in appreciation but shook his head. "The encouragement is kind of you, but I have already accepted the loss of my status. Besides, I doubt she would even let me put her on anymore."

"You got that straight you bloody fool." Shadofang said harshly as her inky face appeared on the gem to glare at him. "You were defeated while using my strength with absolute ease. Why would I want to be worn by a weakling like you?"

"And what? You think I'll just up and put you on after seeing what you did to him?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as the face swiveled around to face him.

"Oh what's wrong sweetie? I was just having a bit of fun with that weakling, it gets dreadfully boring being stuffed in this thing you know. I'll promise to behave for you." She said in a sweet, soothing voice that would have made Naruto relax… if he hadn't been as dense as diamond when it came to any form or shape of flirting.

"I'm putting you in a scroll." He said bluntly while reaching into his hip pouch and pulling out said item out.

"Putting me in a what?" Shadofang parroted in confusion as Naruto unrolled the parchment, pulled out a brush and ink, and began drawing a series of complex symbols. When he finished, the blonde set the ring in the middle. "What's going on? What is thi-" *Poof*

Wagnar's jaw dropped in surprise as he saw the dangerous Shushu vanish in a puff of smoke before Naruto rolled the scroll back up and put it away. "Problem solved, now time to get something to eat."

"Wha… what happened to Shadofang?" The 'ex'-guardian asked as he looked around in confusion.

"Sealed her into a storage scroll. You said a chuchu-" "Shushu," "Shushu could possess anything that was alive, so I put it where nothing that can be possessed could possibly reach it." Naruto said with a shrug as he started serving himself. As far as he knew, no one but him knew how to operate his sealing scrolls now, and even if someone tried to figure them out he put a simple self-destruct trigger on Shadofang's that Jiraiya had taught him for important documents.

One little slip up and that ring would be stuck inside her own personal pocket dimension for the rest of eternity.

"Ah, a clever idea," Wagnar said with a slight grin before quickly becoming serious. "But be warned, the influence of a Shushu is not so easily contained."

"When is anything ever easy?" Naruto asked rhetorically with a roll of his eyes before chowing down on his food.

"A question as old as time itself that one." Ruel said after downing an entire jug of Api cider.

"For once we agree you greedy old Enutrof." Eva said, giggling when the old man sank into his seat while grumbling about 'no respect from youngsters'. Once she settled down a bit, she finished up the last few bites that remained on her plate and stood up. "Speaking of those scrolls of yours, we should really start packing some supplies and I'd like them to be somewhere that certain people can't reach." As she spoke, Eva sent some not-so-discreet glares at Ruel, Dally, and Yugo who either smiled sheepishly or whistled innocently. "Do you mind helping me?"

"No problem." Naruto said with a grin that Eva shared as he got up with his plate in hand. "Lead the way." Nodding, Eva turned around and headed out the nearest exit with her fellow blonde in tow. As the pair left, neither noticed the Cheshire grin that suddenly popped up on Ruel face though a certain Sadidian princess did.

"What are you so happy about Ruel? I figured you'd be upset that you wouldn't be able to gorge yourself like normal." Amalia said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she leaned closer to him.

"Oh it's nothing, just enjoying the blossoming young love." He said with a wave of his hand, laughing internally at Amalia's gobsmacked expression. At the same time Dally, who was jugging a bottle of cider when Ruel spoke, did a spit-take that covered half the table, Yugo, and Wagnar.

"WHAT!?" The Sadidan and Iop cried out in sync while getting right up in Ruel's face.

"Don't tell me you don't see it too?" Ruel asked in mock surprise before shaking his head. "I mean, it's so obvious."

"What are you talking about?!/Naruto and Eva are together?!" They both demanded/asked at the same time while a still soaked Yugo quietly squeezed in between them with a curious expression.

Sighing dramatically, Ruel's smirk widened slightly before speaking. "Think about it, our little Evangeline gets kidnapped by the horrible villain, no offense," He said to Wagnar who waved it off, "Naruto swoops in and saves her all by himself, and the next day she suddenly comes up with an excuse to be alone with him."

With each word that past his lips, a look of dawning understanding, and horror in Dally's case, crossed the trio's faces. Ruel hadn't barely even finished speaking before Amalia and Dally rushed off towards the direction that the blonde duo had had gone, with Yugo getting literally dragged along as he was stuck between them.

When they were completely out of sight though, Ruel clapped his hands together with a mischievous grin crossing his lips as he turned back to the buffet that was still mostly untouched. ' _He he he, suckers make it way too easy.'_ He thought while picking up a large tray half as big as he was and somehow stuffing the entire thing into his small bag before going for another.

While this was happening, Wagnar watched with a bland expression as he wiped the cider off his face.

-Castle Supply Room-

Unaware of what Ruel had just unleashed, our whiskered protagonist finished drawing an array of simple storage seals on a fresh scroll while Eva collected various foods and supplies and placed them on specific sections. As they worked, the pair fill the silence by trading stories of their childhood misdeeds.

"You seriously graffitied an entire mountainside monument in broad daylight?" Eva asked incredulously.

"While dressed in a bright neon orange jacket and cargo pants, hell I still have the jacket." Naruto said while pulling out a small scroll that was barely bigger than his pinky with a black and orange decorations around it. This was his most important scroll to him as it held almost all of his most memorable and sentimental possessions within it that he carried with him wherever he went.

Unrolling it just enough to reveal the first seal drawn on it, he applied a small amount of chakra to it and after said jacket appeared in his arms with a puff of smoke. "I can't believe I used to wear this." Naruto chuckled with a nostalgic smile as he held the coat up for Eva to see. It was similar to his current top though it was a much brighter shade of orange and worn looking with blue on either shoulder, a red swirl on the back, a fluffy yet worn white collar, and a white swirl tassel on the right shoulder.

While he still absolutely adored the color orange, the whiskered blonde had slowly come to see that his original ninja outfit was just a 'tad' excessive as he grew up and eventually ended up settling for the more moderate design he currently wore when it he had to get new clothes. Though he refused to get rid of the jacket as it had been the very first gift he had ever been given and had been with him through the best and worst of his early ninja career.

"Hm, it doesn't look that bad to me." Eva said with a shrug as looked the article of clothing over. "May I?" She asked with a hand held out. Surprised by his fellow blonde's words, Naruto nodded slowly before tentatively handing her the jacket.

Running her fingers through the soft yet durable feeling cloth for a second, Eva then flipped the coat behind her and slipped it on. It was a little short on the sleeves and stomach but other than that it was a perfect fit for the Cra. "A little bright for my tastes, but otherwise it looks fine." She said with a nod before starting to take it back off…

…just as the door that was right behind her to burst open, knocking her into Naruto a sending them both tumbling into the table which collapsed under the sudden weight as Amalia, Dally, and Yugo rushed into the room.

"They have to be in here. This is the last room to… check… Oh my Sadida! We'll come back later!" Amalia screamed as she got a good look at the scene in front of her before quickly heading back out, shoving the two boys with her out as well. Eva was laying on top of Naruto with random bits of food, ink, parchment, and wood covering them both. However, the real reason for Amalia's big freak out was the sight of Eva with her lips locked firmly with Naruto's and the whiskered teen's hands groping her friend's chest from when he instinctually tried to catch her.

Completely caught by surprise by the accidental kiss, neither of the blondes were able to do anything but stare into the other's eyes. As the shock quickly began to wear off though, both of their faces rapidly turned to a vibrant shade of red that would make a tomato green with envy. Finally, after nearly two minutes of this, Eva managed to regain her wits enough to break the lip-lock and clamber off Naruto.

"T-t-that w-wasn't… I-I didn't…" She stuttered out before just giving up on speaking and rushing out the door. Naruto on the other hand simply raised his head slightly to look at the direction at which she left for a few moments as his brain replayed what happened until he couldn't take it anymore and passed out with a nosebleed.

-Back with Ruel-

Ruel was just finishing up stuffing the last of the buffet into his bag when Amalia, Yugo, and Dally returned with the former two being flustered and the latter looking a little down. Raising an eyebrow, he was about to ask them what was wrong when an **Extremely** embarrassed Eva waltzed into the room shortly.

"Soooooo, have fun 'packing supplies'?" Amalia asked with air quotes as soon as she saw the Cra enter the room while shooting her friend a dirty look.

"I-I have n-no idea what your t-talking about." Eva said as she tried to cross the room to get to where the bedrooms were, only for Amalia to get in her way.

"Puh-lease, I saw it with my own two eyes." The greenette said as Eva's face somehow turned even redder. "What were you thinking? You've only known him a few days and you're doing THAT with him!?"

"It wasn't what it looked like! It was an accident!" Eva exclaimed only for her ward/best friend to scoff.

"Sure… you just 'accidentally' kissed him right on the lips while laying on top of him." Amalia said sarcastically, "If that's true, then perhaps you might be able to explain that jacket, hmm?" She asked making Eva stiffen up.

' _CRAP!'_ The Cra thought as she looked down at herself and saw that she was indeed still wearing Naruto's old jacket. "I, uh… You seeEOUCH!" Her words were cut off by a yelp as Amalia surprisingly grabbed her by the ear and dragged her off.

"We are going to have a long, LONG chat Evangeline!"

Meanwhile, Ruel's eyes widened as he put two and two together and a chuckle escaped his throat. ' _Looks like my little trick wasn't just a bit a fiction after all.'_

-End Chapter-

AN: Poll up for the pairing of this story. Before anyone asks, Naruto will eventually use Shadofang, but after seeing what she did to the last person that wore her he wouldn't exactly be jumping through hoops to do so right away. He already has first hand experience when dealing with things trying to possess him *Cough* Kyuubi *Cough* and I doubt he'd be all gun-ho for adding something else to that list. That being said, Shadofang will try to tempt him as they travel as if you've seen season two of Wakfu, it is shown that a Shushu isn't limited to just where their prison is to communicate with someone. Also does anyone know where Naruto actually got his first outfit? I tried to find out myself but could only find how he got his shippuden clothes. Thank you for reading and please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you don't like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 6-

-Last Time-

 _"Sure… you just 'accidentally' kissed him right on the lips while laying on top of him." Amalia said sarcastically, "If that's true, then perhaps you might be able to explain that jacket, hmm?" She asked making Eva stiffen up._

 _'_ CRAP _!' The Cra thought as she looked down at herself and saw that she was indeed still wearing Naruto's old jacket. "I, uh… You seeEOUCH!" Her words were cut off by a yelp as Amalia surprisingly grabbed her by the ear and dragged her off._

 _"We are going to have a long, LONG chat Evangeline!"_

 _Meanwhile, Ruel's eyes widened as he put two and two together and a chuckle escaped his throat._ 'Looks like my little trick wasn't just a bit a fiction after all _.'_

-And Now-

"Could you please stop staring at us? It's starting to get unnerving" Naruto asked as he and the others walked through a dense forest. His question was directed to Amalia, who had kept her eyes locked firmly on both him and Evangeline ever since the… 'incident' yesterday.

"Why? So you two can sneak off for some _alone time_? I think not!" The plant princess exclaimed.

"For the last time, it was an accident." Eva said with a sigh, her and Naruto's faces getting a light blush as they remembered the accidental kiss they shared.

"Yeah right, I'd sooner believe that Ruel was a charitable saint then that." Amalia said while rolling her eyes, before pausing as she looked around. "Speaking of the old coot, where is he?"

"He went off that way, said something about following his Enutrof instincts." Dally said while pointing off to his left just as several yells of anger could be heard followed by a single high-pitched scream.

"...Five Kamas says we're about to be in a lot of trouble real soon." Eva muttered, her bow drawn and ready to fire.

"Knowing Ruel, that's a sucker's bet." Yugo said while readying his hands to make portals.

"Then let's get out of the way." Naruto said, surprising the others when he made three clones and having them grab Amalia, Dally, and Eva before hopping into the canopy while he did the same with Yugo. And not a moment too soon as Ruel came running in a second later with a horde of angry Bworks chasing after him with bows and spears. ' _Hmm, looks like it's time to pull the old switch-a-roo.'_

When the old man passed under where they were hiding, Naruto tossed down several smoke bombs, completely covering the area in a cloud of… well smoke. He then created another clone that jumped down, tossed Ruel up to them, and then used the henge to make itself look like him as it ran off in a random direction.

Naturally, the somewhat dim and stubborn ogre creatures fell for the trick and began chasing after the disguised clone with renewed fury. Just in case though, Naruto waited a few minutes after they left before sending another clone down to check the area. Once he got the all clear, he and the rest of the clones dropped back down and set down their passengers.

"Phew, thanks for the sa-OW!" Ruel was cut off when Evangeline and Amalia whacked him over the head. "What was that for?!"

"Whatever you did to get a bunch of Bworks chasing after you." They said at the same time, before looking at each-other in surprise. Amalia then huffed angrily at her friend and turned away with her nose in the air while Eva sighed in defeat.

"All I did was find a pile of junk laying around and figured if people were just going to leave it there then I might as well help myself." Ruel said with a shrug, pulling out a small golden statue of a chubby man in a meditative pose as he spoke.

"So you stole from Bworks? Are you nuts?! Those guys are as defensive about their treasure as an Enutrof!" Amalia yelled, getting right back in the old man's face.

"Oh please, those brutes don't even come close, I have better security for my garbage than what they had set up."

"That is not the point and you know it!"

Tired of the bickering, Naruto walked between the two and pushed them apart. "Enough, let's just get out of here before those guys figure out that they're chasing a decoy and decide to come back for the real deal." He said in a calm but stern way while giving them both a look that screamed not to push it. Luckily, both of them got the message and backed further away from each-other and started walking again.

Unfortunately, not everyone was satisfied with the plan.

"Bah, running away from a fight is the coward's way! I say we wait for those beasts to come back and give them a good thrashing!" Dally exclaimed while willing Rubilax into his secondary form and taking a ready stance, only to yelp in pain when an exasperated Eva grabbed him by the ear and started dragging him along.

Continuing along the path a casual but alert pace, it only took the group another fifteen minutes until they arrived at the other side of the forest. The number of trees around them thinned out almost immediately, leaving behind a massive grassland with a large chasm with a massive log acting as a bridge and covered in patches of wild roses of varying colors.

"STOP!" Amalia suddenly screamed just as they reached the edge of the clearing, her eyes turning wide and fearful.

"Huh? What's wrong Happa-chan?" Naruto asked, looking around for any sign of danger before turning towards her with a confused tilt of his head when he found none.

"Those are demonic roses." The greenette muttered fearfully while jabbing a finger towards one of the groups of flowers. "Their one of the deadliest plants in the world of twelve, a single bite from one will either drive you mad or kill you."

' _Bite?'_ Naruto thought with a raised eyebrow, swiveling his head back towards the flowers. Looking more closely at the nearest bunch, his eyes widened slightly in surprise as he noticed the plants' mostly hidden eyes staring back at him and the rest of the group while wicked jaws salivated with a sinister purplish fluid. ' _Okay, yikes. Not even Ino would like those things._ '

"We'll have to go around then." Eva said while puling out the map and unrolling it. "Oh most wonderful, magnificent, and knowledgeable of maps, where is the closest place to cross this gorge other than here?" She asked in a monotone as the maps face appeared.

"Ah, how sweet of you," The map said with an annoying laugh that made Eva roll her eyes before it's face vanished and was replaced with a map of the surrounding area. "The next crossing area is eighty-three miles east of here. And I wouldn't recommend trying to cross elsewhere, that gorge is stuffed with active geysers that are known for randomly blasting scalding water." As if to cement this statement, the ground shook lightly, and a torrent of steaming water shot in the air. "And even then, those flowery pests of yours run along the entire length of the chasm itself."

"Most likely because they like all the nutrient rich water the geysers are spraying." Amalia said with a grimace. "Dear Sadida, we'll have to go past those things no matter what we do."

"Unfortunately." Eva groaned, looking over the map thoroughly before rolling it back up with a sigh and pulling out her bow.

"Then we might as well go through here, and I might have just the trick to clear the way." Naruto said while going through a short chain of hand-seals. "Get ready, _Fuuton: Diatoppa_!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) He exclaimed while inhaling, his chest rapidly expanding to a ridiculous size before he exhaled an extremely powerful blast of air that rapidly expanded.

In less than a second, nearly all the monstrous roses nearby, along with a few boulders and smaller trees were swept up by the jutsu and sent flying into the depths of the chasm. "Okay, that was impressive." Ruel said with a low whistle.

"Thanks, now let's go before the rest regain their wits." Naruto didn't wait for a response as he took off running, with the others quickly doing the same… well, most of them.

"No way! I ain't running from yet another fight! Charge!" Dally yelled at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards the remaining monsters with Rubilax ready. Smirking widely, he sliced through the evil flowers like a hot knife through butter, massacring dozens with ease.

However, thanks to his battle lust giving him tunnel vision, and his general lack of common sense, the orange-haired warrior didn't notice until to late that for every dozen demonic roses he slashed apart, thirty more would take their place. By the time he did, the poor teen found himself completely surrounded by the poisonous enemies.

Glancing around at the numerous enemies, the normally confident knight gulped nervously. "…oh crap."

"Ugh, that Iop-brained moron!" Eva growled out as she and the others reached the bridge. The Cra fired her bow rapidly, launching dozens of energy arrows at both the plants surrounding Dally and the ones starting to swarm towards them. "We need to get him out of there!"

"On it!" Yugo said, his hands glowing blue before he thrust one in Dally's direction, causing a portal to open directly beneath him that he fell into. The boy then created another portal beside himself and the shushu guardian fell out face first. Yugo was right behind him as he fell to his hands and knees, his breathing ragged.

"Uhh, that never gets any easi-bleugh!" Dally mumbled while slowly lifting his head off the ground, only to cut himself off as his face turned green and he vomited in a conveniently placed bush.

"Serves you right, would it kill you to think before acting for once?" Amalia demanded while grabbing one of the Iop's arms and started dragging him across the bridge.

"Oi! Bitch later, run now!" Naruto yelled after incinerating a large swath of flowers with an overcharged _Katon: Danro raita_ (Fire release: Fireplace Lighter). He took a moment to admire his handiwork before crossing.

"I can get behind that." Ruel said, smashing one last rose under his shovel while he scooped Yugo up into his arms and sprinted across the bridge. A trio of roses tried to follow after him, but were swiftly stopped by a familiar light arrow that managed to pierce through all three at once before exploding.

Unfortunately for Eva, that small distraction kept her focus just long enough for a pair of red roses to climb up on an old root that stuck out to her side and pounce. By the time she turned back, it was to be greeted by the vicious flowers barely an inch away with their venom covered jaws bared. Startled and terrified, the young Cra instinctually snapped her eyes shut and raised his arms up to protect herself.

However, instead of feeling the expected pain of deadly poison being forcefully injected into her body via bite, Eva instead felt a sudden tugging sensation from her navel followed by an overwhelming feeling of vertigo. Falling to the ground, her eyes snapped open and she was shocked to find herself across the bridge with Ruel and Yugo who looked equally shocked.

Confused at what happened, she turned back towards the bridge to where she was standing, only to freeze up at what she saw.

In the exact place she had been just a moment ago, Naruto now stood with a kunai in one hand that was impaled through one flower while the other was set into a partial snake seal…

…and the other rose currently sinking its jaws into it.

"Itai! Itai! Itai!" Naruto yelped, dropping his kunai in favor of ripping the vicious plant off and crushing it with his uninjured hand. "Holy Kami, that hurts like a Meinu! (Bitch)" He hissed while trying to head for the others, only to stumble and fall as the poison now coursing through him messed with both his sense of balance and vision.

"Naruto!" Amalia screamed, letting a mostly recovered Dally go as she turned around and rushed back to help the injured blonde.

"Ugh, don't… don't worry about me, I'm alright." Naruto said as he slowly got back up to his feet, stomping on a rose when it got too close. "Just go, I'll… I'll be right behind you."

Despite his words Amalia didn't stop, she instead continued to run across the log and upon reaching the other side used her brambles to swat aside several dozen roses. She then moved to Naruto's side, grabbed one of his arms and draped it over her own shoulders, and more or less dragged him back towards the bridge where one of Yugo's portals suddenly sprang open.

"Why do girls never listen to what I say?" Naruto asked aloud, earning a soft giggle from the greenette holding him.

"Maybe because you keep telling them to do stupid things like leaving you behind." She quipped as they reached the portal. "Now hold on, we're almost the-AGH!" Her words were cut short as a scream escaped her throat just before she suddenly lurched forward, through the portal and into the hard earth on the other side.

Shaking off the nausea he felt from the teleportation, Naruto weakly raised his head to see Amalia lying next to him clutching her side. The cause, a wilted looking purple rose with blood-stained jaws.

-End Chapter-

AN: Uh-oh, looks like both Naruto and Amalia got poisoned, and if any of you have ever watched the show, then you know which of them is in the most trouble right now. For those of you saying that Naruto should be able to just shrug off the poisoning, I would like to point out that the fact he is still conscious testifies just how much he is resisting its affect. Now, for the current poll results.

Double:35

Single:3

Eva:31

Amalia:29

Cleophe:14

Other:2

Man, you guys really want the double pairing with Amalia and Eva. Those who don't however, better vote fast as I'll be ending the vote next chapter. Thank you for reading and please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 7-

-Last Time-

 _"Why do girls never listen to what I say?" Naruto asked aloud, earning a soft giggle from the greenette holding him._

 _"Maybe because you keep telling them to do stupid things like leaving you behind." She quipped as they reached the portal. "Now hold on, we're almost the-AGH!" Her words were cut short as a scream escaped her throat just before she suddenly lurched forward, through the portal and into the hard earth on the other side._

 _Shaking off the nausea he felt from the teleportation, Naruto weakly raised his head to see Amalia lying next to him clutching her side. The cause, a wilted looking purple rose with blood-stained jaws._

-And Now-

"AAAH!" The air was filled with Amalia's screams of agony as Ruel and Eva carried her in their arms. The pair were doing their best to keep the girl steady as they sprinted as fast as they could through the now open plain.

"You better be right about this Eniripsa Ruel! Or I swear I'll make what I did to Dally look like a slap against the wrist!" Eva yelled, her expression an odd mixture of intense concern and utmost rage.

"Trust me Evangeline, if anyone can heal Amalia and Naruto, it's Nausica! She once treated a Wabbit bite on a dear friend of mine!" Ruel huffed back confidently. Though he did start moving noticeably faster after catching a glance at Dally as he ran beside them carrying a green-faced and groaning Naruto with Yugo's help.

Said Iop was currently more bruise than person, with one of his eyes badly swollen up, blood leaking from his mouth from missing teeth, and what looked suspiciously like arrow wounds on his arms. Shortly after they'd gotten away from the deadly flowers, the archer of the group had gone utterly ape-shit on him, and had only let up after Yugo and Ruel managed to pry her off.

Thankfully, before Ruel could start imagining the possible outcomes of possible failure, which was unfortunately very likely given he hadn't seen Nausica in over fifteen years, a house started coming into view in the middle of a wheat field. "There it is! That's her place!"

Nothing else was said as the group ran even faster straight to the cottage, startling a few winged dragoturkeys in their pen as they zipped past. Skidding to a stop just in front of the door, Ruel only paused long enough to give Eva a full hold on Amalia before knocking as loudly as he could.

"One Second~!" A soft voice called out before the door swung open to reveal a chubby woman with brown hair, a cheery smile, and small pixie wings. Her happy expression was quickly replaced with shock however as she saw the small entourage standing outside her home. "Ruel?"

"Hello Nausica, sorry to suddenly barge in on you like this after so long but there's no time for niceties. My friends are in desperate need of help." The elderly man said slightly as he moved to the side so that Naruto and Amalia could be seen.

"Oh dear," The fairy-like woman muttered with concern as her eyes immediately zeroed in on the injuries on Naruto's hand and Amalia's waist. "I'd recognize that bite anywhere. Quickly, bring them in and set them on the bed." She said, moving out of the way as the group entered.

The interior of the home was a single room with a kitchen and medicinal area to one side, a lounge area with fireplace on the other, and at the back was a large bed that the poisoned duo were swiftly placed on.

"Come on guys… I told you I'm fine… stop worrying about me." Naruto grumbled as he tried to sit up, only for Eva to push him back down and covered him and Amalia with the blanket.

"No you're not Naruto. You've been poisoned and the more you move around the faster it spreads. Now. Stay." She said sternly while keeping her hand pressed firmly against his chest. Naruto was about to argue more, but was cut off when he felt something latch onto his side.

Turning his head, he found Amalia with her arms wrapped around him tightly, her seizures having finally stopped. Instead, they'd been replaced with a sensation of extreme cold that left her shivering violently. As she pressed herself against him as tightly as she could for warmth, her eyes stared at nothing with glazed look of terror and agony.

Briefly forgetting about his own annoyance, Naruto reacted instinctually and started rubbing the girl's head soothingly, getting her to settle down slightly. Meanwhile, as this was going on Nausica was busy at work, her now glowing hands held over the pair, her face a mask of concentration as she spoke with Ruel. "Are you certain he was bitten by a red one?"

"Positive. I saw it with my own eyes." The shovel wielder said with a grim nod as he watched the whiskered blonde suddenly turn greener and start vomiting into a bucket that Yugo had given him.

"Then how is he still so coherent?" The Eniripsa demanded quietly while dropping her arms and moving to the medicinal section with the old man in tow. "The amount of venom flowing through this boy should be driving him to absolute hysteria and causing him pain greater than imaginable. Yet, he's acting like he has at worse a bad case of food poisoning."

"I have a theory, but trust me when I say you'd never believe me." Ruel said with a shake of his head. He may have had many adventures that others could find hard to believe in his long life, but even he was still having trouble believing the origins of his whisker-faced companion.

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with why I can't identify what he is, would it?" Nausica asked. When she got nothing but silence in response, she continued. "If anything he's like a a mixture of over half the races that walk the world of twelve. The hair and keen eyesight of a Cra, the durability of a Iop or Feca, the regeneration of a Sacrier, minor canine features not to different to an Ouginak. By Eniripsa, he even has a minor connection to nature similar to a Sadidan."

"Like I said, you'd never believe me." Rule repeated, getting the woman to shake her head in exasperation as she finished concocting a lightly fizzing blue potion and pouring into two glasses.

Walking back over to the bed-ridden duo, she gently nudged Eva to the side before handing Naruto one of the cups. "Here, this should take a little of the edge off." She told him while holding the other to Amalia's lips and carefully coaxing the liquid down her throat.

"Thanks," Naruto said, gulping the glass's contents down in one swallow with a mild grimace at the medicine's bitter taste. Though it was worth it as he felt his stomach settle somewhat and his face regained some color. "How long until you can whip us up a pro-urp…proper antidot Nausica-san?"

"It's antidote dear…. and I'm sorry but this tonic is the best I can do." The fairy-woman said sadly, getting everyone to look at her in shock.

"What do you mean? Can't you help them?" Yugo asked, the ears on his hat drooping when the woman shook her head.

"Unfortunately no, if I'd been there when the bites first happened I might have been able to extract the poison, but now it's spread throughout much of the bodies." Nausica said before pointing to Amalia. "That young lady was lucky, violet roses are the old ones that are near death, so their bites are much less potent and only lethal in rare cases. She should be just fine in a few days as long as we keep her well hydrated."

"And I already told you… I'm fi-Bleugh!" Naruto was cut off as he started vomiting again.

"Well, you are and you aren't dear. The red Demonic Rose is the deadliest of the entire species. Anyone bitten by one is almost guaranteed to die within a day of being bitten." Nausica said with a sigh. "However, your body is resisting the poison's affects better than anyone I've ever seen or heard of. Don't get me wrong, it's still killing you, just much slower than it should be. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd give you four or five days, a week if we're being optimistic."

"Then that's a week that we can work on finding a cure." Yugo said, his hat ears perking back up and his face became hopeful.

"I guess, but you're speaking of accomplishing something that people have been trying for decades without success."

Not one to be dissuaded easily, the hat wearing boy grabbed onto the front of the fairy woman's blouse and looked up at her pleadingly. "Please, there has to be something that can help him."

"Well," The Eniripsa started as she thought deeply for a few seconds. "There is one possibility, but it's a long-shot at best."

"It has to be better than nothing, lay it on us." Ruel said, getting nods of agreement from Eva, Dally, and Yugo.

Smiling a little at this, Nausica quickly explained. "There is tales of an ancient tree called the Severum, who's magical glowing sap can heal any ailment. Legend says that it lies somewhere deep within a dangerous place a few miles from here known as the Evil Forest. If anything can save your friend, it's that."

"A heroic quest to a deadly place to get a rare item to rescue a friend!?" Dally exclaimed with sparkling eyes, his wounds looking a lot better thanks to a quick healing spell from the Eniripsa. "That sounds like a job for sir Percedal of Sadly-OOF!" He was cut off mid-sentence by a fist to the face that sent him flying _through_ the wall, curtesy of Eva.

"I'm pretty sure we've had enough of your nonsense for one day Dally." She said angrily as she glared at the groaning Iop.

"Uh Eva, don't you think that was a little… and I'm shutting up." Ruel said nervously with his hands help up in surrender as Eva snapped her eyes towards him. "I'll go looking for this Severum, I'm the best at tracking things of value down."

"Fine," The Cra said with a nod as she let her anger drop for the moment.

"Oh come on guys… This isn't neMPH." Naruto tried to argue, not liking the idea of his friends going to somewhere called the Evil Forest for his sake, especially if it was anything like the Shi no Mori (Forest of Death) he had to go though during the Chunin Exams. He was unable to finish though as Eva covered his mouth, earning herself an annoyed glare.

"Yugo, you go as well for when Ruel gets in trouble and needs bailed out." She said, ignoring the indignant shout from the indignant Enutrof.

"You got it Eva, you can count on us." Yugo said with a grin.

"You guys can borrow my dragoturkeys, they should make searching a bit easier." Nausica said as she led the pair outside to the pen. This left Amalia, Naruto, and Eva by themselves, the latter of which finally removed her hand from her fellow blonde's mouth after several seconds.

"Really? You licked my hand?" She asked with a disgusted expression as she wiped the spit and bile off her hand. "What are you five?"

"Maybe it'll teach you not to cover my mouth next time." Naruto said with a cheeky grin that made Eva roll her eyes but smile a little. "Now could you do me a favor and get Amalia-chan off? She's getting a little… grabby."

Seeing what he was talking about, Eva couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. One of Amalia's hands was shoved into his open jacket and was twisted up in the fabric of the black T-shirt underneath, while the other was buried in his messy blonde locks.

"Oi! Stop laughing Surudoi and help me." Naruto said with a pout as he tried fruitlessly to pry off the shivering girl's arms.

"Alright, alright, hold on." The Cra said slightly bemused as she reached down to help. However, as soon as her arms wrapped around Amalia's waist, Eva's eyebrow rose in confusion as the princess became entire still in her grasp.

Shrugging it off, the archer pulled her charge free…

"AAAH!"

…Only to be shocked as Amalia went completely nuts in her grasp, her arms and legs flailing wildly. Unprepared for this, Eva fell to the floor with a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her and she lost her hold on the struggling Sadidan.

"MONSTER! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY!" Amalia screamed at the top of her lungs, scrambling off of Eva and tossing the stunned blonde across the room with her brambles.

"Eva!" Naruto exclaimed as he got up to help, only to be immediately bowled over by something crashing into his stomach. Choking slightly at the bile that started to rise in his throat, the whiskered blonde did his best to swallow it back down as he sat up and got a good look at what struck him. "What the hell?"

Standing on his chest was Amalia's doll, it's eyes now a deep glowing red and it's mouth set in a wicked grin full of sharp jagged teeth. "Kill. Destroy." It said in a high-pitched voice as it jumped at his face and tried to bite him. It didn't get very far though as Naruto, despite his intoxicated state, still managed to easily catch it in midair held it back with a blank expression. "Destroy! Kill! Destroy!"

"Yeah, how about no." Naruto said dully as he fished out a roll of ninja wire from his pockets and tied the doll up with it. Even then, he made sure to keep a firm grasp on it as he stood back up and looked around.

On the good side, Eva was alright and only had a few bruises that were easily fixed by a returned Nausica. The bad side was that Amalia was rocking back and forth on the floor in a fetal position as her eyes flickered around the room fearfully.

"Poor dear, she's hallucinating." The Eniripsa woman said while trying to approach the girl. Before she could get within ten feet of the greenette though, more brambles burst from the floor and swung at her, forcing the woman to back off. "This is bad, if she keeps exerting herself like this, she'll tire herself out and the poison will cause even more damage."

"Please tell me you know how to snap her out of it then." Eva pleaded as she nursed her head, which was aching a little from the rough landing.

Grabbing a seemingly random bottle from the shelf, Nausica removed the cork sealing it and giving it's contents a sniff before quickly closing it again with a nod. "Not exactly, hold your breath." She said, tossing the bottle right past the vines and against floor a few feet in front of Amalia.

Shattering upon impact, viscous blue fluid slowly oozed outwards from the broken container and started evaporating into a sweet-smelling mist that swiftly started filling the room. Holding their breath like they were told, Eva and Naruto watched as Amalia's eyes went from terrified and alert to droopy and tired.

By the time the gas started filtering out of the cottage, she was completely out cold and the brambles surrounding her fell lifelessly to the ground. It was also at this time that Dally made a reappearance, slowly stumbling in through the hole he'd made with his body...

"Hey guys, I'm alright, just got stuck in a pile of… hey, what's that nice smeeee…" *Thump* …And promptly passed out as he inhaled a large amount of the sedative gas.

Once the last of it was dissipated, Eva and Nausica rushed over to Amalia's side while Naruto dragged Dally all the way back inside by his leg. "Ha, some guardian you are, knocked out of commission twice in less than an hour." Rubilax said with a chuckle from the unconscious teen's belt.

"You know, I am highly tempted to just seal you up like I did Shadofang." Naruto said as he set Dally in the corner.

"If you even so much as think about trying that, I'll rip your arms off." Rubilax growled with a narrowed eye.

"Big talk coming from such a little swo-bluegh!" Naruto started to quip when his stomach decided it wanted to do a triple somersault.

Hearing his retching, Nausica appeared at the blonde's side and guided him back to the bed where Amalia was being tucked back in by Eva. After a bit of coaxing, Naruto reluctantly laid back down as well, though not before he handed Amalia's doll to Eva.

"What was that stuff?" Eva asked, glancing at the broken glass that was left on the floor.

"Dreaming Daisy extract," Nausica said while placing damp cloths on Amalia and Naruto's heads. "It takes a lot to prepare properly, but as you can see it's worth the effort. I try to keep a supply handy for moments just like this."

' _Heh, Baa-chan would have loved to meet her.'_ Naruto thought with nostalgic smile, remembering just how energetic Tsunade reacted whenever she found anything new medical-wise.

"You got that right gaki." A familiar voice said, causing Naruto to freeze as soon as it reached it reached his ears. Slowly turning his head towards the source, his eyes widened so much that they threatened to fall out of his head.

Leaning against Nausica's shoulder was a beautiful blonde-haired woman wearing a sleeveless grey kimono with a dark blue belt and black pants. Her eyes were a light brown that held an excited gleam, a large busty chest that was only emphasized further by her arms being crossed under it, and a lavender triangle in the dead center of her forehead.

Stretching a bit, the woman draped her arm over the Eniripsa's shoulders and hefted up a large bottle of Saki. "What's wrong gaki? You look like you've seen a ghost."

-End Chapter-

AN: Sorry for the short chapter, but it's my birthday today and I wanted to get at least one story updated before the day was over. Now, to be clear, I was not bashing on Dally this chapter, I was just trying to make Eva's reaction believable. If you think I overdid it then I'm sorry and will try to do better next time. Poll is now over with the grand winner being Naruto x Amalia x Eva by an absolute landslide. Thank you for reading and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 8-

-Last Time-

 _Leaning against Nausica's shoulder was a beautiful blonde-haired woman wearing a sleeveless grey kimono with a dark blue belt and black pants. Her eyes were a light brown that held an excited gleam, a large busty chest that was only emphasized further by her arms being crossed under it, and a lavender triangle in the dead center of her forehead._

 _Stretching a bit, the woman draped her arm over the Eniripsa's shoulders and hefted up a large bottle of Saki. "What's wrong gaki? You look like you've seen a ghost."_

-And Now-

"…T-Tsunade-baachan?" Naruto muttered in shock, subconsciously scooting back as he stared at the woman in disbelief. "H-how… you're dead."

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." 'Tsunade' said sarcastically as she deadpanned at him. "That's kinda what happens after a few thousand millennia."

"B-but, y-you're-"

"Naruto?" Before Naruto could finish his question, Tsunade vanished just as Eva's face suddenly appeared right in front of his.

"Gah!" Naruto jumped in surprise with a shout, before yelping as he inadvertently hopped off the edge of the bed and started falling to the floor. Luckily though, he didn't fall far before a slender hand grasped the collar of his jacket and pulled him back up.

"Oh my, it seems like you're starting to hallucinate as well." Nausica said as she and Eva set him back on the bed. The fairy woman then began chanting under her breath as she placed a glowing hand on his chest.

"Hey, what are… you… doing?" Naruto asked, his voice starting to trail off as the glow spread across his body and he began to feel incredibly groggy.

"Calm down dear, it's just a weak sedating spell to help you stay relaxed." Nausica said once she was finished. "The more you stress or push yourself, the more you accelerate the poison's affects and the less time your friend's have to find the Severum Sap."

"Fine, then why don't… you just knock me out… like you did Happa-chan?" Naruto asked slightly breathlessly as he jabbed his thumb towards the Sadida princess as she whimpered quietly in her sleep.

"It's too much of a risk," The Eniripsa said with a shake of her head. "I still have very little idea how the Rose's poison will affect you as it is now, any potions I used could cause potentially more harm than good and I don't know any other spells for sleep."

"Figures," Naruto groaned in annoyance as he let himself go limp and sank into the soft padding of the mattress.

"Yep, you're not gonna get rid of me that easily gaki." Naruto barely managed to hold back a shiver as he heard Tsunade's voice again as she reappeared next to Nausica with a grin.

' _Ruel and Yugo better find that sap soon.'_

-Meanwhile, deep in the Evil Forest-

Inside a tree that had somehow been grown into the shape of a house, Ruel and Yugo could be seen tending over an elderly sadidan woman with annoyed looks on their faces, with the former massaging her feet and the latter fanning her off with a large fern leaf.

This woman was Sybannak, the sole remainder of a Sadida clan that had lived in the forest before a great tragedy struck and the others had left without her. The duo had run into her when they had first arrived at the forest and several giant plant monsters she had created for company had attacked them.

After a quick apology on her side, introductions, and a brief explanation for why they were there, the old plant woman had told them that she knew exactly where the Severum Tree was. Happy at their luck, Ruel was quick to ask if she could take them to it which she agreed too… with a few conditions.

*Crack* *Crackle* *Crack* "By Enutrof, this isn't a foot, it's a bwork hoof." Ruel grumbled quietly with a grimace as the foot he was working on cracked repeatedly.

"Ah, Sybannak's feet feel so much better now." The woman said, speaking of herself in the third person for some reason.

"Enough that she'll finally tell us where the Severum is?" Yugo asked hopefully, a bright smile crossing his lips as she nodded.

"Yes, yes, Sybannak will now tell you where to find Severum. It is…" Ruel and Yugo leaned in excitedly as the woman spoke. "…" However, that excitement quickly vanished as Sybannak remained silent for a while.

"…"

"…Uh, Sybannak?" Yugo asked after a full minute of silence.

"…Sybannak sorry… her throat… so dry… she… cannot… speak… anymore… ksjdfhkagflkfjlghkljgh." Both males deadpanned as they stared at the elderly sadidan speak utter gibberish.

"You know, that's the second time she's been 'conveniently' interrupted right when she was about tell us about where that stupid tree is." Ruel whispered to Yugo after he gave the woman a glass of water, with the hat-wearing boy nodding in agreement.

"Do you think she's lying about knowing where it is?" The boy asked quietly, before blinking in surprise when Ruel shook his head negatively.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I've seen this kinda act before," Ruel said as he carefully watched Sybannak in the corner of his eye. "She knows exactly where it is, the old bat just doesn't want to tell us, so she's stalling out until we leave in frustration while milking us for what we're worth."

"Great, so all that time we spent pampering her was for nothing." Yugo groaned.

"Au contraire my little Yugo, we may still be able to get something from this." Ruel said, causing the boy to tilt his head in confusion until he elaborated. "It's simple, given how old Sybannak is, it's likely she has the location to the Severum written down somewhere in case she forgot."

"You'd know all about that, huh?" Yugo couldn't help but quip, earning himself a playful glare from Ruel.

Rolling his eyes good-naturedly, Ruel smirked before continuing. "Anyway, all we have to do is continue to let Sybannak stall until nightfall. Then, when she falls asleep we'll search the place until we find those directions."

"Oh, good plan Ruel." Yugo said with a smile…

"Would one of you nice boys brush Sybaddak's hair? It's oh so messy."

…before frowning as Ruel quickly shoved him towards the woman as she held a simple wooden comb.

-Back at Nausica's, Nightfall-

"Ugh, is it just me or did is getting really hot in here?" Tsunade asked, leaning against the currently lit fireplace as she used a hand to fan herself.

"Oh… ha ha… very funny baa-chan." Naruto laughed sarcastically, his face red from the fever he now had… and the fact he was currently in nothing but his boxers, and a few cold damp cloths laid across his legs, arms, forehead, and stomach.

The reason for this was clear though, as sweat was quite literally pouring from every inch of his body. The bedding underneath him was soaked completely already, creating an almost perfect outline of his body in the cloth. Beside him, Amalia was still out-cold from the Dreaming Daisy extract, squirming and wiggling from whatever dream she was having.

"Naruto, you need to stop talking to her, she's not really there." Eva said from her seat at the edge of the bed as she peeled the sweat filled rag from his arm. After ringing it out thoroughly, she dipped it into the bucket of fresh water at her feet before returning it back where it was.

"Wow, harsh much? I'm right here." Tsunade said while pretending to wipe a tear from her eye.

"I know Surudoi-chan, but she's also… just as persistent as the real baa-chan." Naruto said with a sigh, before coughing harshly thanks to his throat suddenly drying out. "…W-water please."

"I gotcha dear," Nausica said as she walked over from her medicinal area with a large glass of water that held a light green tint and tiny flecks to it.

"I thought you said you couldn't give him any medicines." Eva said while eyeing the drink dubiously.

"No, I said I couldn't give him any potions, this is just an herbal drink." Nausica explained calmly, getting the Cra to nod in understanding.

"Hmm, ground mint leaves and boiled echinacea root with a few drops of lemon juice if I'm not mistaken." 'Tsunade' mused as she leaned close to the glass. "A simple but effective remedy for dry throat and fever."

Naruto ignored the fake blonde as he watched Nausica walk towards him and once she was close enough reached out for the cup. However, the moment his hand started to grab the drink, the whiskered teen swore as both it and the Eniripsa vanished from sight before reappearing two feet to the left with a pitying look on her face.

Ever since Tsunade had first appeared, his perception of reality had been declining at a steady rate. He kept seeing things that weren't there and things that were there only in the wrong place than they really were. At first, Naruto had been able to easily tell when something was off as the false views had been blurry and distorted. But, over time they begun to become gradually sharper and more realistic, making increasingly more difficult to discern the difference.

He could barely look Eva in the eye thanks to an earlier incident an hour earlier when she had tried to give him a small bread roll and he had accidentally grabbed her breast instead.

The only thing that remained consistent during all this was Tsunade herself, who had been continually popping in and out of existence at random intervals. Naruto didn't know why this was, nor did he particularly care as while he knew it wasn't real, he was at least a little happy to hear his mother/aunt figure's voice once again.

Before he could delve deeper into these thoughts, Naruto was snapped back to the present as he felt the smooth glass of the cup push between his lips and the cool refreshing liquid within poured down his throat.

After the cup was about half-empty, Naruto waved his hand to signal Nausica to stop and a relived sigh escaped his lips once the glass was pulled away. "Ahhh… thank you Nausica-san."

"Of course dear, the rest is right here if you need more." The fairy woman said with a smile as she set the glass down on the nightstand and went back to the medicinal area, where she started going through various different books and papers with a look of deep concentration.

A long silence filled the room after that, broken only by the rustling of paper, the muffled yells of Amalia's tied up doll, and the dripping of water as Eva continued to regularly rinse out the rags covering Naruto.

"Wow gaki, this must be the longest I've ever seen you stay put in your whole life." And of course, the unending commentary of a certain dead busty blonde. "Oi! You'd better stop using my chest as a way to point out who I am or else."

Naruto couldn't help but raise a brow at Tsunade's odd comment as she stared up at the ceiling with an annoyed glare, before shrugging it off as just being part of the hallucination.

Deciding that he'd had enough with today's insanity, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep, doing his best to ignore the blazing heat that was wafting off of his body and the stickiness of his own sweat. However, just as he was beginning to doze off, the sickly blonde's ear twitched as a soft barely audible noise entered it.

"ch… ah ak… uh ch…uh"

' _The hell?_ ' Naruto wondered as his eyes cracked back open and he slowly turned his head toward the direction the sound was coming form. At first he didn't see anything amiss, though given his current state that wasn't saying much, but after a moment his sight settled on Amalia's form.

Almost immediately, the blonde felt alarm bells going off in his head as the greenette lay almost completely still next to him. Amalia had been tossing around almost nonstop under the covers ever since Nausica sedated her, so the fact she wasn't moving except some mild spasming of her lips and eyes was alarming to him.

"chah… uk.. ch cha"

That worry only increased further once Naruto not only realized the sound he'd heard was coming from the girl, but he also figured out what the sound was. "Nausica-san, get over here!" He yelled, startling the two females in the room while he suddenly sat up and leaned over Amalia in concern. "I think Amalia's choking!"

Upon hearing these words, Nausica dropped what she was doing and dashed across the room at an impressive speed to the sadidan girl's side with Eva. Pushing Naruto to the side, the fairy woman barely begun to look Amalia over when her eyes widened in alarm.

"By Eniripsa, she's not choking, she's having a seizure!" She exclaimed as she pulled the blanket covering Amalia back to show the spasms that were rocking through the whole girl's body.

"Oh crap! Naruto, move! We need to give Amalia space now!" Eva said, grabbing her fellow blonde and dragging him off the bed, not even reacting as his sweat clung to her skin and clothes.

"What's going on? I thought you said Happa-chan was… what the hell?" Naruto asked himself midsentence, his head swiveling around in confusion as he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a forest, fully dressed and full of strength again.

Of course, it didn't take the whiskered teen long to figure out what was going on and an annoyed growl rose up in his throat.

"Kami damn it, I don't have time for this." Lifting his right hand, he clenched it tightly into a fist and held it as from himself as he could…

*SMACK* "Kuso yarō! (Son of a Bitch!)" …and then promptly punched himself right in the face as hard as he could.

"Owwww, okay, not my smartest idea." Naruto groaned as he rubbed his aching nose.

"Like any idea you've had was smart Dope." A dreadfully familiar voice said, causing Naruto to freeze in place before slowly turning his head to the side. Several feet away, a young man with pitch black hair and pale skin leaned against a tree with an arrogant smirk on his lips. His red eyes boring into Naruto's as a trio of comma-like marks spun lazily around his pupils.

"Sasuke-teme, just the jackass I didn't want to see right now." Naruto said dully before he turned back around and started to walk away.

"What's wrong Dope, aren't you gonna try and drag me back to Konoha?" Sasuke asked as he pushed off the tree. When Naruto didn't answer, an annoyed look crossed the dark-haired boy's face and he drew the katana that was hanging from his waist. "Hey, stop ignoring me."

"There's no point talking to you, none of this is real," Naruto said without looking back, his hands held out in front of himself in an attempt to find the walls of Nausica's cottage. "It's just something my brain came up with thanks to the stupid poison."

"Ha, you mean from that little genjutsu world I stuck you in?" Sasuke asked, his smirk returning when Naruto stopped again. "I always knew you were terrible when it came to them, but to actually believe that-"

"Shut up Sasuke, we both know that you didn't do something like that." Naruto cut the emo boy off. "You'd face me yourself head to head with us both at our best. Your pride wouldn't let you do it any other way."

"…Hn, you may be right." Sasuke said with a nod as he seemed to relax, before appearing right next to Naruto with his sword stabbed through the blonde's back. "But that doesn't make this hurt any less."

Naruto's eyes shot open and a hand shot to his chest as he felt the pain of getting stabbed flood through him. The initial shock was quick to wear off though and the whiskered blonde found himself back in Nausica's house, kneeling at the side of the bed where Amalia lay.

While noting that the girl was no longer convulsing and gone back to her previous restless sleep Naruto tried to stand up, only to stop when he noticed an unusual amount of weight pressed against his chest and felt something wrapped tightly around his waist.

Looking down, his confusion swiftly turned to shock and then just as quickly to concern as he found Eva hugging his chest as sobs racked her body. "Surudoi-chan? What's wrong?" He asked while nudging the girl softly, only to get no response. "Surudoi-chan? Eva? Evangeline?"

Naruto kept trying different names in order to get any reaction from his friend to no avail until he felt a hand on his shoulder, and raised his head to see a grim-faced Nausica standing over him.

"Leave her be dear, she's taking the news rather hard." She said sadly while giving him and Eva a look of guilt and pity.

"What news Nausica-san? What's going on?!" Naruto demanded as a familiar feeling of dread started building in his stomach.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this… it's all my fault… I should have been paying more attention… then maybe I-"

"Nausica-san! What is wrong!?" Naruto yelled, snapping the woman out of her rambling.

Sighing deeply with a shake of her head, the Eniripsa said in the most even tone she could manage.

"Your friend Amalia is in much worse condition than I thought. I'm sorry, she's dying."

-End chapter … Just Kidding, Back at Sybannak's-

"You find anything yet Ruel?" Yugo asked in a whisper as he quietly searched through a cabinet that had been made from an old stump.

"Other than a few moldy cawwots, no." Ruel said as he rifled through the pantry with a candle for light.

Their plan had worked perfectly, with all the pampering they did putting Sybannak into a nice deep sleep and leaving them free to search her house for anything related to the Severum.

Unfortunately, after several minutes of searching neither of them had any luck so far in finding anything of use at all in the old woman's home.

"This lady may be crazy, but she's definitely not stupid." Ruel grumbled as he closed the pantry door and Yugo closed the cabinet. "She either hid the directions somewhere only a sadidan could find them, or she truly doesn't need any."

"Then what do we do Ruel?" Yugo asked, desperation starting to show on his face.

"I'm thinking Yugo, I'm thinking." The old Enutrof said as he paced back and forth. ' _Let's see, if she hid the directions, it probably be in some kinda plant that only she could handle… like those.'_ Ruel thought, stopped to look out a window where two ginormous plant monsters were sleeping.

Shivering at the thought of dealing with those, Ruel frowned as he started to move again. ' _On the other hand, if she truly doesn't need directions it's likely because it's nearby. If that's the case, she likely has it hidden somewhere in plain sight, disguised as something no one would think… twice… about...'_ Stopping once more, the elderly man stared intensely at a nearby wall before suddenly grinning widely. "Of course!"

"Uh Ruel, what are you doing?" Yugo asked as Ruel walked over to the wall and fished out a small chisel from his bag.

"Here's a fun fact about sadidans Yugo," Ruel started to say while stabbing the chisel into the wall, causing a brightly glowing orange sap to seep out. "They always build their houses around the most valuable tree in the forest."

"Alright Ruel, we fou-mmph!" Yugo started to exclaim happily, before getting cut off by Ruel covering his mouth and both their eyes shooting to Sybannak's sleeping form.

*Snrk* "bad rock… no wetting in the house… zzzzzzzz."

Sighing in relief, Ruel let Yugo go before digging around in his bag again and pulling out several wooden vials and shoved some into the young boy's hands. "Here, fill these up as fast as you can. I'll try a different spot."

' _Alright, Naruto and Amalia are gonna be fine!'_ Yugo thought happily as he pulled the cork out of the vial and held it up to the oozing sap.

-Nausica's home-

"What do you mean she's dying!?" Naruto demanded, grabbing Nausica by the front of her blouse and pulling her close. "You said that she was going to be fine!"

"I-I'm sorry, I m-made a m-mistake, I-I missed s-something," Nausica stuttered nervously, a wave of fear passing through her as she swore that Naruto's eyes flashed red briefly. "W-when the rose b-bit Amalia, it nicked her k-kidney and a s-small portion of its v-venom went d-directly to her h-heart."

Naruto opened his mouth to keep yelling, but stopped when he finally noticed the fear in the woman's eyes. Realizing how he was acting, the blonde let the healer go and took several deep breaths to calm down. "I'm sorry Nausica-san."

"I-It's quite alright dear," Nausica said, her own breathing leveling out as she relaxed. "You're just c-concerned for your friend."

Focusing his attention back on the bed, Naruto sighed heavily and rubbed Eva's back in support. "How long?"

"…Ten, fifteen minutes at most,"

"And there's truly nothing you can do?"

"Not a thing, the only hope there is left is if your friends make it back with the Severum Sap in time."

"And they still think they have a whole week, kuso!" Naruto swore. He hated this. His friend was right in front of him dying and there was nothing he could do.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that gaki." Naruto grit his teeth together as Tsunade reappeared next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "There is one thing you could do still."

' _Just ignore it, it's not real.'_

"You know, I can hear you," Tsunade said as she grabbed Naruto's other shoulder and squeezed it painfully. "And I'd appreciate not being called an it."

' _Of course you do,'_ Naruto mentally grumbled, ignoring the pain as he continued to comfort Eva as best he could. ' _Could you just go away?'_

"Hmph, fine then, I guess you don't want to save your friends life after all." The busty blonde- "What did I just say about that?" Fine, the bodacious blonde said, happy now? "Meh, I'll allow it."

Ignoring Tsunade's argument with nobody, Naruto frowned heavily as his mind warred with itself. On one side, the logic portion was screaming at him to ignore the woman, that there wasn't anyone there, while the other was telling him to take the chance.

And as per usual, Naruto ignored the former, though much more hesitantly than he normally would. "Alright, what is it?"

"What is what?" Nausica asked, only for Naruto to wave her off as he looked towards the empty space besides him.

"Well gaki, it's real simply," Tsunade said with a smirk, "Your friend needs more strength to keep fighting off the poison until that magic sap gets here. She also happens to be basically part plant, part of nature you might say."

"You can't seriously mean… that could kill her." Naruto said, causing an alarmed look to appear on Nausica's face and Eva even stopped crying as she looked up at him in confusion.

"And if you do nothing she'll die for sure." Tsunade retorted, "Which do you prefer, probable death or definite death?"

"…"

"That's what I thought gaki, now get to it already, the clocks ticking."

' _I must be going crazy, I'm agreeing with a figment of my imagination.'_ Naruto thought with a sigh while prying Eva off and pushing her into Nausica's arms.

"Naruto… what are you doing?" The elf-girl asked, her bloodshot eyes widening in recognition as the whiskered blonde crossed his legs and curled his hands in his lap.

"Hopefully buying some more time." Naruto said before he closed his eyes and his entire body went still.

"Uh, is he alright?" Nausica asked after a minute or so, a little disturbed as she couldn't even tell if the teen was breathing anymore.

Eva didn't answer, opting to instead watch as a familiar orange coloration spread across Naruto's eyelids until they snapped open to reveal his now bar shaped pupils and yellow irises. Getting up on his feet, he stepped closer to the bed and looked down at Amalia as she weakly gasped for breath before raising his hand as it was enveloped in a soft greenish-blue glow.

"Okay, seriously Naruto, what are you doing?" Eva asked again, grabbing Naruto's arm just as he started to lower it towards Amalia.

"I'm going to transfer pure senjutsu chakra into Amalia." Naruto said while effortlessly pulling his arm free. "With her connection to nature and plantlike bio-something, it should hopefully help keep her alive long enough for Ruel and Yugo to get back with the sap."

"And the part where it could kill her?" Eva asked with narrowed eyes.

"There is a… moderate chance of that," Naruto admitted before adding, "But if I don't do anything she'll die for sure."

Eva couldn't argue with that, she could see Amalia's breathing getting weaker by the second. With a reluctant nod of understanding, she stepped back from her fellow blonde as he focused his attention back on Ama-

*Shnk* Naruto stopped cold as a blade erupted from the center of his chest and he found himself back in the middle of a forest.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to get away from me?" Sasuke asked before delivering a harsh kick to Naruto's back, knocking the blonde off his sword and skipping across the ground for several feet until he crashed into a tree.

"Owwww," Naruto groaned as he peeled his face out of the bark and sent Sasuke an annoyed glare. "Damn it Teme, you could not have worse timing than right now."

Spinning his sword to clean the blood off it, Sasuke smirked. "Oh, I'm not so sure, I'd say it's just perfect."

-XxXxX-

Meanwhile, in the real world Nausica and Eva watched Naruto give a sharp gasp before going entirely still. "Naruto? Naruto?! Naruto!" Eva yelled while shaking the young man repeatedly to try and get him to respond.

"Oh dear, it looks like he's gone catatonic again." Nausica said, snapping her finger a few times in front of Naruto's face without response.

"We need to snap him out of it, and fast." Eva said, her gaze going back to Amalia, who's face was rapidly losing color.

"Well I'm open to suggestions dear."

-xXxXx-

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he smashed a spinning blue ball of energy against Sasuke's sword, filling the air with the sound of shrieking metal.

"Give up Naruto! You know you can't beat me!' Sasuke yelled over the noise, only to be ignored as Naruto continued to press on and the Rasengan tripled in size.

Right as the blonde was about to start winning though, a soft tingling sensation on his cheek distracted him just long enough for his opponent to ram a fist in his stomach.

-XxXxX-

"Ow, okay so much for slapping him out of it." Eva said as she held her aching hand with a grimace. ' _By Cra, that was like hitting a block of steel!'_

"Oh boy, then we may have to take… drastic measures." Nausica said while Eva nodded.

Getting into a crouch beside Naruto's unmoving form, Eva gave the boy a look of pity before raising her fist. "Sorry about this Naruto."

-xXxXx-

"Annoying Teme," Naruto sighed as he dusted his hands off and started walking, leaving a beaten up and bloodied emo on the ground. "Alright, how the hell do I get out of he-EEEEIII!"

The whiskered boy curled over and his voice rose several octaves as an immense amount of pain shot through his family jewels. Cupping his groin in agony, Naruto barely even registered as the world returned to normal around him until he felt someone shaking his shoulder.

"Naruto, cringe in pain later, Amalia needs you now!" Eva yelled, getting the boy to nod weakly before placing his once again glowing hand on Amalia's stomach.

The instant he made contact, the energy began to soak into Amalia's body and, much to everyone's relief, her breathing leveled out. Eva began to relax slightly as she saw her friend/ward's condition improve… before blinking in surprise as she noticed an odd and concerning fact.

Naruto's face was showing a large amount of exhaustion, with his breathing becoming haggard and the coloration around his eyes starting to fade away already.

However, just as she was about to ask him if he was alright, Amalia woke up, and her vision was filled with green light.

-In the Air-

"Man, I can't wait to see everyone's faces when they see that we already got the sap." Yugo cheered as he and Ruel rode on the back of a winged blue dragoturkey wearing aviator goggles.

"You don't have to much longer Yugo, there's Nausica's place now." Ruel said as he pointed to the small cottage in the distance that was just visible thanks to the soft moonlight.

*CRACKLE* *GROAN* The instant he pointed this out though, both he and Yugo were shocked as the whole place began to glow a bright green before a MASSIVE willow tree burst into existence.

"Oh boy, that can't be good."

-Real End Chapter-

AN: I'll be honest, I winged it with this chapter. I had a lot of ideas what could happen for this part and had trouble deciding on which to go with, so I just wrote whatever came to mind at the time. If you think it sucks because of that, then I'm sorry and I promise I'll try to do better next chapter. Thank you for reading and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as itisn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 9-

-Last Time-

 _"Man, I can't wait to see everyone's faces when they see that we already got the sap." Yugo cheered as he and Ruel rode on the back of a winged blue dragoturkey wearing aviator goggles._

 _"You don't have to much longer Yugo, there's Nausica's place now." Ruel said as he pointed to the small cottage in the distance that was just visible thanks to the soft moonlight._

 _*CRACKLE* *GROAN* The instant he pointed this out though, both he and Yugo were shocked as the whole place began to glow a bright green before a MASSIVE willow tree burst into existence._

 _"Oh boy, that can't be good."_

-And Now-

"Holy bwork!" Yugo exclaimed as he had to crane his head just to see the top despite the fact he was several hundred feet in the air. "It's so big!"

"Yeah, too big!" Ruel shouted as he made the dragoturkey swerve to the side right as a large branch shot through the space they had been occupying. "Hold on tight Yugo! This is not gonna be a smooth landing!"

With his piece said, the old Enutrof tightened his grip on the reigns before having their mount go into an extremely steep dive. Both males screamed at the top of their lungs as they rocketed toward the ground at high speed, swerving wildly to avoid the various branches that grew around them.

On the good side, once they got low enough the branches were no longer a problem. The bad news however, was that by then they were barely thirty feet up and dropping way too fast to stop in time.

"Oh Shi-!" Ruel started to yell, only to be cut off when he, Yugo, and the dragoturkey vanished into a portal just as they were about to crash. A second later, another portal appeared a few feet away that they shot out of and ended up skidding several feet across the dirt before colliding with a giant root.

*Bleuagh* "Uuuugh, not my best landing that one," Ruel groaned out as he slowly stood up, wiping off the traces of vomit that remained on his lips. "Are you alright kiddo?"

"…I'm alive… alright might be… stretching it a bit…" Yugo muttered between breaths as sweat dripped from his brow.

Meanwhile the dragoturkey stood up with nary a scratch and squawked at the pair angrily befre trotting off.

Sighing in relief, Ruel shook off the last of his nausea before helping the boy to his feet. "Good enough, now let's get going, we still have friends to save after all."

"Yeah, Amalia and Naruto are… depending on us." The hat-wearing boy said once he managed to catch his breath somewhat.

Limping away from the crash site, the pair slowly made their way to the base of the thankfully finished growing tree, where they could see a large entrance still giving off a soft green glow. Carefully moving around or over the massive roots and debris that used to be Nausica's house.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" Ruel called out as he peered inside the wooden cavern, before feeling his jaw hit the floor at what he saw.

The space inside the tree was massive, easily big enough to fit a large house or two with room to spare. Large semi-transparent roots as thick as regular tree trunks ran along the walls and across the floor with pulses of green light running through them in slow regular intervals.

And at the exact middle of all this sat Nausica's bed, where Amalia lay wrapped in countless smaller roots, her eyes wide open and glowing a blindingly bright green. Beside her stood an extremely sickly and exhausted looking Naruto with his hand held against Amalia's chest by even more roots, only these ones were pulsing blue with tinges of red mixed in while Eva and Nausica tried in vain to separate the pair.

Dally was sprawled out on the ground snoring loudly, still out cold from the Dreaming Daisy extract.

"Ruel! Yugo! Oh thank Cra you are back!" Eva exclaimed as she tried to hack through the roots around Naruto's arm with Rubilax, only for the demonic blade to bounce off without a scratch. "Please tell me you guys have the Severum sap!"

"Yeah, right here," Yugo said, holding up a pair of wooden vials while looking around in shock and confusion. "What's going-"

"We'll explain later! Give me the sap!" Nausica yelled as she stopped her attempts to pry the roots off in favor of catching the vials that were tossed to her. Handing one to Eva, both quickly ripped the corked out with their teeth and poured the vibrant orange liquid into Naruto and Amalia's mouths.

"Huh… taste like maple syrup." The whiskered blonde muttered weakly as he swallowed the sap.

At first nothing seemed to happen, and the group was quickly growing more concerned as Naruto grew paler. However, just when they were sure that the sap wasn't working, a pulse of energy sudden blasted from the two and Amalia shook her head a few times as her eyes and the roots covering her lost their glow.

"Uh… my head," The greenette groaned as she tried to sit up, only to naturally be halted by the vegetation covering her. Blinking in surprise, the princess slowly began to take in her surroundings.

"What… what the heck? Where am-*Crack* Naruto?!" Amalia exclaimed mid-sentence when said blonde suddenly collapsed on top of her, dislocating his immobile arm in the process. Reacting instinctually, the princess willed the roots off as she shot up in worry for the whisker-faced boy.

"Hey Happa-chan… glad to see you're… feeling better." Naruto said with a tired smile, not even flinching as his injured arm slumped down. "You had us… scared for a bit there."

"What are you talking about? Scared about what? What's going on?" Amalia demanded worriedly.

"Ask Surudoi-chan... I need to take a nap." Naruto told the Sadidan girl before passing out on her lap.

Not knowing how to react to this, Amalia turned her head towards Eva as said girl came into view and started checking her over while Nausica helped Naruto. "It's a long story."

-The next day-

"I am so sorry for your house getting destroyed Nausica. This is all my fault." Ruel said while bowing apologetically to the fairy woman. Both were currently standing just inside the willow tree while the rest of the gang stood on the outside.

"It's fine Ruel, you had no way of knowing that something like this could happen. Besides, I'm pretty sure your gift makes up for it all and then some." Nausica said as she cradled the plant pot in her hands with a small sprout in it. "Once this Severum Sapling grows I'll be able to do so much good."

"It is the least I could do," The old Enutrof said with a smile, though if you looked closely you could see the pain on his face. ' _Such an easy fortune lost, damn my bleeding loyal heart.'_

He had transplanted the sapling from the original tree while he was 'collecting sap' and had been planning to grow it himself so he could sell the valuable substance it produced. However, while he may be cheap, greedy, conniving, manipulative, and at times a con artist, Ruel was man enough to pay for his partial responsibility to Nausica losing her home.

…No matter how much it might hurt his pride as an Enutrof.

' _Meh, I was never much of a botanist anyway, the darn thing would've probably died after a week in my care.'_ Ruel reasoned with himself with a sigh.

"Besides, I can't wait to study this tree more thoroughly," Nausica said as she rested a hand on one of the pulsing roots. "I have never seen anything like it before, it's so fascinating."

"That it is." Ruel said with a nod, unable to deny his own curiosity towards the massive tree.

"I'd also like to know more about that friend of yours, but I guess that is a mystery for another time." The fairy woman said while glancing at Naruto, who was chuckling alongside Dally as Yugo told them about the crazy lady in the Evil Forest.

If it wasn't for the fact she'd been the one to treat him, Nausica would have doubted that he'd just been severely poisoned, had his lifeforce drained by a colossal plant, and dislocated his shoulder last night.

"Another time for sure, but now we must get going." Ruel stated before he and Nausica hugged. "It was good to see you again Nausica."

"And you as well, good luck out there you old coot." Nausica said with a smirk as Ruel chuckled while feigning to be upset by her words.

Meanwhile with the others, Yugo had just finished telling his friends about Sybannak. "Man, that sounded like a rough trip." Naruto said while the teleporting boy nodded in agreement.

"If I never have to massage someone's feet again, it'll be too soon," Yugo muttered with a shiver before smiling brightly. "But it was worth it though since you and Amalia are alright now."

"No kidding, I owe you one," Naruto said, patting Yugo on the back with a grin of his own. "If you'd been any longer then Happa-chan would have sucked me dry of-*Smack*-ITAI!"

"Don't say it like that!" Amalia yelled with a bright blush as she whacked the whiskered blonde over the head with a vine.

"Itai itai itai, what's wrong with the way I was saying it?" Naruto honestly asked as he rubbed his sore head. Also confused, Dally and Yugo turned towards the princess with questioning looks, causing her already inflamed cheeks to practically glow while Eva facepalmed.

"Uh… well it um… you're er, making it sound like it was my fault!" Amalia stuttered out accusingly. "It wasn't like I intentionally made this happen after all! It was the poison's fault! The poison!"

"Okay, alright, I get it, I'm sorry." Naruto said with his hands held up in surrender, getting the greenette to calm down a bit.

"Apology accepted," She said with as serious face she could manage, which wasn't saying much as she was still making a tomato envious, before turning to Yugo with a smile. "And you have my thanks as well, you really came through for us."

"Oh and what am I, chopped gobbal?" Ruel cut in, giving a mock frown as he walked up to the group. "I'm hurt, giving all the credit to the kiddo when I put in just as much work."

"Fine, you _both_ came through for us," Amalia corrected with an equally false exasperated sigh. "Better?"

"Much, now, I do believe we have dawdled around here long enough. We're still a long way from Oma Island and I'm not getting any younger here." The Enutrof stated while pointing towards the horizon dramatically.

"He's right," Eva said, standing up from the root she'd been sitting on and stretching a bit, "Unless we hurry up, he'll die of old age long before we get there."

Everyone minus Ruel burst into laughter at those words, with the old man himself simply scowled while muttering things like 'I'm not that old' and 'No respect for one's elders' under his breath.

This was the sight Nausica was greeted with as she watched the group walk off into the distance with a smile. Because she was focused on this however, she never noticed as the roots that had once held Amalia start to glow faintly once more before curling into a sphere around the empty bed.

…

…

* _Ba-bump_ *

-Meanwhile, Unknown location-

"My oh my, quite an interesting specimen you are." A robotic looking being with glowing blue eyes said as it watched video of Naruto through a series of large glass lenses. Some showed him as he was being de-petrified, others laying a beatdown on ghouls and Vampyro, saving Amalia's life with Senjutsu, and just various other random clips.

"So much Wakfu contained in one spot, and so potent." The metal man said the feeds were replaced with video of the giant willow being grown. "And such an intriguing reaction from just a small taste of it, this must be the mythical power of the ancient people I've read about."

The video changed, this time to pictures of old scrolls and torn pages showing pictures of people shooting flaming dragons from their mouth, conjuring storms, or summoning creatures of enormous size. A few of the images though, were of old relics such as broken spade-like daggers, deformed star shaped blades, and rusted metal plates with various carvings in the middle.

"I'll need to keep a close eye on this young man and find out what makes him tick." He said while snapping his fingers, causing the images to change once again, this time to a live feed of Naruto and the rest of the group as they were walking down a dirt path.

"He'll make for a very suitable replacement if the Eliatrope fails to lead me to the dragon."

-End Chapter-

AN: Filler chapter, sorry if it was boring. Thank you for reading and please review.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 10-

-Last Time-

 _Everyone minus Ruel burst into laughter at those words, with the old man himself simply scowled while muttering things like 'I'm not that old' and 'No respect for one's elders' under his breath._

 _This was the sight Nausica was greeted with as she watched the group walk off into the distance with a smile. Because she was focused on this however, she never noticed as the roots that had once held Amalia start to glow faintly once more before curling into a sphere around the empty bed._

…

…

 _*Ba-bump*_

…

 _"I'll need to keep a close eye on this young man and find out what makes him tick." He said while snapping his fingers, causing the images to change once again, this time to a live feed of Naruto and the rest of the group as they were walking down a dirt path._

 _"He'll make for a very suitable replacement if the Eliatrope fails to lead me to the dragon."_

-And Now-

"We're lost again aren't we?" Naruto asked dully while the group trekked through a lush forest, the sun starting to set in the distance.

"Probably," Eva said just as blandly with a deadpan expression on her face as she walked beside Naruto and Amalia. It had been three days since they'd left Nausica's place and for three days they'd been nothing but lost every single step of the way.

"Great, which means we're camping out again," Amalia grumbled, her face scrunching up in disgust as her bare feet sank several inches into the muddy ground.

"Hey it's not that bad, I actually find camping quite enjoyable." Naruto said before holding up a small sealing scroll between his fingers. "Besides, at least we have this nice tent that Wagnar gave us to sleep in instead of just the dirt."

"…Alright, you got a good point there."

"This is ridiculous, you'd think it'd be easy to get around with a magic map, but noooo, every time we use the darn thing we get lost." Ruel groaned in annoyance from the front of the group with Yugo, Dally, and said map.

"Oh marvelous magical map of wonderfulness, please show us the way out of this forest." Yugo asked with a begging smile that quickly vanished when the map scoffed loudly.

"Figure it out for yourself, the Iop has yet to stop insulting me."

"What a load of Iyarashī, even when we're as nice as Kami no jaakuna shūdō-shi you still led us in circles." Naruto said with a roll of his eyes before holding out his hand. "Yugo, could you hand me that for a second?"

"Uh sure, but why?" Yugo asked while tossing the talking map over to his fellow blonde.

"Just want to see if I can… negotiate with him." The whiskered teen said with a mischievous grin that made the others just a little uneasy.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, insult me some more?" The map asked sarcastically, though if one looked closely they could see just a hint of nervousness in the smiley face.

"Nah, just gonna ask a question. Can you feel this?" Naruto asked while grabbing one edge of the map and tearing it slightly.

"YEEEOUCH!"

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto said, losing his grin and glaring at the map. "Here's the deal Bunchin-teme, I'm tired of you jerking us around so either you're going to start leading us like a good and proper map or I'm gonna start tearing you apart one small scrap at a time and use it for toilet paper." To emphasize his point, the blonde made the tear a bit larger, causing the map to yelp in pain once more.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Just stop hurting me!" It yelled hurriedly, causing Naruto to smile once again.

"Which way out of this forest?"

"Keep following this path for another mile then take a left at the next fork and keep going for another three, it'll lead you straight to a bakers village!"

"For your sake that had better be true." Naruto said before rolling the map back up and handing it back to Yugo. "I should have done that three days ago."

"I agree, but don't toot your own horn just yet boyo, let's see if that village is even there first." Ruel said, getting the blonde to nod in understanding.

"Alright, though it's getting pretty late and some of us look like they could use some sleep." Naruto said while looking towards Amalia and Yugo, who were both rubbing their eyes tiredly, then back to Ruel himself who was stifling a yawn. "How about we call it a day and set camp?"

"Might as well," Eva said after taking a quick glance at the sky, "Ruel, it's your turn to get the firewood."

"If you say so." The old man said with a shrug before walking off.

"Yugo, see if you and the idiot can go find something to cook for dinner." Eva continued, getting a salute from the young boy and a slumped sigh from Dally. Every since they'd left Nausica's, the Cra had refused to talk to the Iop directly and when talking about him would simply call him 'the idiot'.

…Well actually she originally called him 'the fucking retard' for most of the first day but after a brief talk with Naruto and Ruel eased up slightly.

"Naruto- *Poof*…thank you." Eva said as Naruto unrolled the scroll in a clearing and made a large luxurious red tent with black trim appear in a puff of smoke. It was roughly the size of a small home with two large open flaps allowing one to see the interior, where several blankets and pillows were bundled up in five distinct piles.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go catch some-Hey!" Amalia started to say as she walked into the tent, only to end up yelling indignantly when Eva grabbed her by the collar. "What's the big idea?!"

"It's our turn to cook princess, and I'm not gonna let you pull a lazy pandawa on me." The elven girl stated, making the greenette smile sheepishly as she was dragged along. "Now come on, Naruto's almost done setting up the fire pit."

"Darn it."

An hour and a half later, the group was gathered around said pit enjoying some roasted Piwis along with various wild fruits and vegetables.

"And I was like, 'See it? It almost took my head off, of course I saw it!'" Ruel said with a grin as the group burst into laughter, the Enutrof having just finished telling the tale of one of his many (mis)adventures around the world of twelve.

"Man Ruel, you sure know how to get yourself into trouble." Dally said with a chuckle as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"It's not my fault really, I just tend to run into a lot of unreasonable people." Ruel said with a shrug.

"Are you sure it's not because you're a cheap old coot who tends to annoy others when you try to swindle them?" Amalia asked cheekily, making the old man give a fake pout.

"How cruel the words of youth are, no respect whatsoever."

"Quit acting so dramatic Jiji, you ain't fooling anyone." Naruto said with a good natured roll of his eyes.

"Hey Naruto, I was wondering. Would you mind telling us another one of your stories?" Yugo asked hopefully, immediately getting everyone's attention. "I mean if it's not too much of a bother."

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Naruto blinked in surprise for several moments before responding. "Uh… sure I guess, if you want me to."

"Sweet!" The hatted boy cheered, the ears of his hat twitching wildly from his excitement. Dally and Amalia weren't much better as they started to fidget in their seats in anticipation, Eva was much more restrained but still highly interested, and Ruel… had a notebook and quill?

' _If this story is as good as the first one then I could make a fortune off it!'_ The old man thought, drooling slightly as he imagined all the kamas he'd make from book profits.

"Alrighty then, where do I start?" Naruto thought aloud, rubbing his chin in thought.

"How about what happened after your mission to… er Nami no Kuki was it?" Amalia asked curiously.

"Close Happa-chan, it's Nami no Kuni, and good idea," Naruto said before smiling a bit sadly. "Well after that mission things were a bit dull for a while as my team was stuck doing D-rank missions, which are basically over glorified chores like painting fences and walking dogs."

"…Seriously?" Eva asked with a raised brow.

"Yep, Kakashi-sensei said they were meant to promote teamwork and cooperation for newly made teams but all they really did was bore the hell out of me." Naruto grumbled before shaking his head. "Thankfully we weren't stuck with those to long as Kakashi-sensei signed us up for the Chūnin Senbatsu Shiken."

"Middle ninja selection exam?" Ruel translated in a questioning tone. "Sounds like some kind of remedial training course."

"Actually, it's a series of three tests to see if genin are ready to be promoted to chunin or not." Naruto explained with a shake of his head. "It's actually a pretty large event as shinobi and kunoichi from several villages participate."

"Ah, my bad."

"Anyway, the first test started as soon as my team showed up at the place for it, but we didn't know that."

"Let me guess, subterfuge practice?" Eva asked, smirking slightly when the whiskered nodded.

"Got it in one Surudoi-chan, the man in charge was Ibiki, who was an expert at screwing with people's heads." Naruto thought, chuckling a bit when he remembered how the scarred man played around with all the genin during that exam with absolutely no difficulty. "He made us do a paper test that was too hard for most people to do while giving us extremely subtle hints that you had to cheat without getting caught."

"So how did you cheat?" Yugo asked curiously.

"…I didn't." Naruto stated, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"You passed the test legitimately?" Ruel asked, his voice full of disbelief. "No offense boyo, but you don't exactly seem like the brainy type."

"Actually your right, I am a bit of a baka, even more so when I was younger. Paper tests and word games just give me one big headache." Naruto admitted with an embarrassed smile. "I missed the hidden meaning of the test entirely and ended up panicking until time was up, didn't answer even a single question."

"Wait, so you failed?" This time it was Amalia to ask the obvious question.

"You'd think so, but nope, I passed." The whiskered boy said, a chuckle escaping his lips when he saw the dumbfounded expressions on everyone's faces.

"How?" All five of them asked at the same time.

"I bluffed my ass off and got really, REALLY lucky." Naruto said bluntly, "Turns out that the entire test was nothing more than part of a big set up to put us in a super tense situation which led to a single trick question that you could either try to answer and risk being stuck a genin if you got it wrong forever or not and quit the Chunin exams till next time."

"Oh… Oooh, I get it, they put you in a do or die situation to see how you handle the pressure of major decisions. Very clever." Eva muttered once she thought it over.

"Yeah, which was good for me in the end since I was just too stubborn to give up, even though it seemed pretty obvious at the time that I was gonna fail." The whiskered blonde said with a chuckle that spread through most of the group, the only exception being Dally who had a confused look on his face.

"Uhh, I don't get it." The orange-haired warrior muttered with a tilted head.

"It was all a trick to see if he'd give up or keep going," Ruel simplified for the Iop as he wrote down everything on the notepad before tucking it into his bag. "Now, as much as I'd love to hear more, I do believe it's time for us all to hit the hay."

"It has gotten pretty late." Naruto said in agreement, stretching a bit as he stood up.

"Awwww," Yugo and Amalia groaned in disappointment, though they didn't argue as both could feel the unbeatable pull of drowsiness urging them along.

After quickly smothering the fire with dirt, everyone but Ruel headed inside the tent, with the old man saying his usual excuse of preferring to have some personal space before disappearing into a large bush.

Used to this odd vanishing act of his, the five other members of the group merely shrugged it off as they meandered to their own spots. Naruto, Dally, and Yugo were out like lights the moment they were laid down, and Amalia would have been the same if it wasn't for Eva suddenly pulling her up to a sitting position.

"Ugh! What is it now Evangelyne?" The greenette demanded snappily while rubbing one of her eyes.

"Just checking something really quick." The elven-like blonde said while leaning over until she was eye level with Amalia's waist, specifically on the side where she'd been bitten by the demonic rose.

In said area was a small jagged L shaped scar about an inch and a half long with two small dots beside it, one beside the top of the L and the other right in the middle of the curve. However, unlike normal newly formed scars which would be a shiny pinkish color, these ones were instead a light mossy green thus making them look more like a crude tattoo.

"This again? Come on Eva, I'm fine." Amalia grumbled while pushing her bodyguard/friend back with an annoyed huff.

"I'm sorry Amalia, but I don't trust those one bit." Eva muttered, giving the scars a dubious look.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that since you saw them. So they're a funny color, Nausica said that it was just a side effect of Naruto using his sennin mody thing on me." The greenette said as she curled back up under the blankets.

"No, she said she thinks that is the reason but wasn't sure." The blonde countered blandly.

"Tomato tomahto, can I go to sleep now?"

"Fine," Eva muttered while laying down in her own spot. "But if you notice anything-"

"Goodnight Evangelyne!" Amalia cut in exasperatedly with a mild glare.

*Sigh* "Goodnight Amalia."

-Morning-

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon when Yugo slowly sat up from his bed, his nose twitching as a delectable aroma wafted into his nostrils.

"Mmmmm~ who's making-Mph?!" He started to ask groggily but was cut off midsentence by a wrinkled hand clapping over his mouth. Now fully awake, the boy's head snapped towards the owner of said hand as his palms started to glow, only to blink in confusion when he saw Ruel standing beside him with a humorous grin.

"Ssssh, you'll ruin the moment." The old Enutrof whispered while pointing towards the other side of the tent. Following his directions, Yugo slowly turned his head in the direction Ruel was gesturing to, his eyes widening in surprise the moment he did so.

Amalia had moved in her sleep sometime in the night as she was now splayed out haphazardly across Eva, forming a + shape with their bodies. Not only that but the greenette was also latched onto the arm of one Naruto Uzumaki, cuddling with it contently like one would a teddy bear while she used the whiskered blonde's stomach as a pillow.

"By Enutrof I wish I had that picture box Naruto showed us right now." Ruel said with a quiet chuckle, looking from the hilarious position the trio were in to Yugo's equally humorous reaction of it.

Once he managed to recover from his surprise, Yugo pushed the old man's hand away, revealing the wide grin that had been hidden as he giggled. "Should we wake them up?"

"Nah, don't have to, they'll be up in three… two… one."

As soon as Ruel finished counting, Dally shot up from his bed, drooling heavily as he sniffed the air with his nonexistent nose before loudly proclaiming, "I smell food!"

What followed next would be quite possibly the funniest five minutes of Yugo's life so far.

While Naruto and Amalia were roused by the shout, Eva was wide awake as soon as the sound reached her ears thanks to her military training. Sitting up to find out what the commotion was about, the Cra reflexively shoved off the extra weight she felt on her torso.

Said 'extra weight' let out a shriek of surprise when she suddenly found herself briefly airborne before tumbling onto Naruto's chest, jolting the whiskered blonde awake as the air was forced out of his lungs. Disoriented and still groggy, both tried to move at the same time, only to end up falling over and getting tangled up in each-other's blankets.

Then to top it all off, as the duo struggled in a blind daze trying to get free, one of Amalia's blankets snagged itself on Eva's wrist and pulled the blonde elf-girl into the mess before she even had time to blink…

…and that was just the first minute.

The remaining four was a mess of yelling, screaming, squirming, struggling, and enough profanity to make a sailor blush as they flailed around in total confusion. By the time the trio finally managed to gather their wits and calm down, they were completely jumbled up in a ball of cloth with their heads and limbs sticking out at random points.

…

…

"…What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked with a raised brow while desperately trying to fight down the blush spreading across his face as he felt Amalia and Eva's bodies smooshed up against and contorted around his.

All he got in response was equally embarrassed blushes from the two girls and a chorus of laughter from the boys.

-End Chapter-

Translations:

Iyarashī: Bullshit

Kami no jaakuna shūdō-shi: God damn monks

Bunchin: Paperweight

AN: Another filler chapter, hope you all don't mind. Thanks for reading and review.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 11-

-Last Time-

 _"…What the hell just happened?" Naruto asked with a raised brow while desperately trying to fight down the blush spreading across his face as he felt Amalia and Eva's bodies smooshed up against and contorted around his._

 _All he got in response was equally embarrassed blushes from the two girls and a chorus of laughter from the boys._

-And Now-

Laughter rang through the air while our group of adventurers traveled through the forest once more, following the scent of freshly made food.

The sources of the laughter were Yugo, Dally, and Ruel, who couldn't help themselves whenever they looked at the still blushing Naruto, Evangeline, and Amalia as they walked down the dirt road.

"Man, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen in all my life," Ruel said with a chuckle, before turning to red-faced trio and waggled his brows. "Especially that last part when Eva accidentally-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll turn you into my new quiver." Evangeline cut in with a growl even as her face turned even redder, causing Ruel to snap his jaw shut with a pale face as memories of her beating the hell out of Dally flashed though his mind. He may be old, but Ruel wasn't senile enough to mess around with righteous feminine fury.

Meanwhile Naruto was quite literally steaming from embarrassment as he reflexively cupped his groin protectively.

You see, whilst our embarrassed trio were untangling themselves from their impromptu confinement, Eva had somehow managed to inadvertently slip her hand down Naruto trousers and grab a handful of 'Naruto Jr.'. While that in itself was pretty awkward, it was only made many times worse since Naruto had been at 'full mast' as it were thanks to a case of morning wood and the arousal he'd felt from Eva and Amalia being pressed up to him.

"Look, there's the village the map told us about! Let's go see if we can get something to eat!" Ruel said quickly in a bid to change the subject before Eva could follow through with her threat. Thankfully for him it worked as everyone else looked ahead where a small cozy looking town with several large wheat fields was coming into view.

"About time, I can't wait to take a nice bath and sleep on a real bed." Amalia said, her embarrassment finally dissipating as her excitement took over.

"I just hope they have lots of food!" Dally said with a grin while rushing towards the bakers village, the rest of the group following suit.

*BOOM*

However, just as the group had reached the entrance to the village, a large explosion rang out as a thick cloud of flour filled the air.

*Cough* "What the-*Cough* hell was that?!" Eva demanded between coughing fits while trying to shield her eyes from the irritating powder.

"Let's find out! _Futon: Reppusho!_ " Naruto called out as a vortex of wind blasted from his hand, clearing away the smokescreen in order to reveal… a giant bread golem standing in the middle of a wheat field with a midget covered in pure white ninja clothes on its head. "Alrighty then, that's a new one."

"Mwahahah! Destroy everything Breadnaught! Smash it all to bits!" The disguised midget yelled in a high-pitched tone before the giant baked good started stomping around, swiftly ruining much of the wheat fields with just a few steps.

"NOOO! MY WHEAT!" A thin brown-haired Enutrof man wearing a large chef's hat yelled as he burst out of a nearby house, his eyes widening in horror as he watched the massive bread monster ruin his livelihood. Just as quickly though, his shock turned into anger as he grabbed a wooden oven peel shaped like a shovel and charged at Breadnaught with a battle cry.

"Do you think we should help?" Amalia asked once she managed to stop coughing.

"Might as well since Dally's already gotten involved," Ruel said while resisting the urge to facepalm when the redheaded warrior ran off and attacked the baker of all things. "Amalia be a dear and smack some sense into him while the rest of us take care of the overgrown croissant."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm on it." The greenette grumbled while walking over to where Dally was still fighting the baker and literally smacking him across the head with a large vine.

"I've got the guy up top!" Yugo yelled before jumping through one of his portals and reappearing on top of the Breadnaught, only to immediately jump back a few feet when the startled midget tried to bash his head in with an oversized rolling pin.

As they started to duke it out, Naruto, Ruel, and Eva arrived at the golem's feet.

"You know, whoever created this thing really should have considered one major issue." Naruto said, earning curious looks from his two companions.

"Really, what?" Eva asked as she created several fist sized holes in the monster with her arrows, hoping for a weakness she could exploit.

"They made it edible! _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Naruto called out as several dozen clones formed around him. "It's snack time!"

"HAI BOSS!" The clones cheered back before dogpiling Breadnaught, the sound of chainsaws suddenly ringing out as breadcrumbs flew all over the place.

"…why didn't I think of that?" The blonde elf girl thought aloud, lowering her bow as she watched the bread monster topple over, forcing Yugo and the midget to jump off onto a nearby windmill, and vanish beneath a sea of orange, black, and yellow.

"It does seem like a pretty obvious way to deal with this issue." Ruel said with a nod, also wondering why he hadn't considered such an obvious fix to the problem.

In less than a minute, the once mighty golem had been reduced to nothing but a small pile of crumbs and stuffed clones much to the midget's annoyance.

"Damn you interlopers! You may have beaten my Breadnaught, but victory shan't be yours!" They exclaimed before grabbing a torch out of a nearby stand and tossing it towards a nearby storehouse.

However, it only made it about halfway there until Naruto suddenly hopped up and caught it with a cheeky grin. "Denied!"

His smile quickly fell though as instead of being upset, the mysterious midget laughed haughtily and vanished in a puff of flour.

The reason for this was quickly made apparent though when the smell of smoke reached the whiskered blonde's nostrils and he whirled around to see the entire storehouse ablaze. "What? How?"

"One of the larger chunks that were left of Breadnaught somehow managed to catch on fire before flinging itself inside." Ruel explained as he and the rest of the group met back up.

"Hurry! Someone put it out! That storehouse is full of golden wheat flour!" The baker yelled while he ran around the burning building in a panic, before falling to his knees in despair when the whole thing fell apart into a pile of burning cinders.

Walking up to the grieving man, Yugo patted the man's shoulder with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry we couldn't save your flour sir."

"…It's alright young man." The baker said with a sigh as he slowly stood back up and gave Yugo a weak smile. "At least you managed to minimalize the damage quite a bit and that's better then nothing. How about I treat you all to breakfast as thanks for you help?"

-Five Minutes Later-

The whole gang was seated around a large table, all of them drooling slightly as they stared at the veritable buffet of different breads and baked goods laid out before them.

Smiling at their faces, the baker, who'd introduced himself as Xav gestured to the food with one hand while the other was wrapped around his wife, a middle-aged Cra named Helen, who was holding an infant named Xav jr. in her arms while a young girl named Julie peeked out from behind them. "Well what are you all waiting for? Dig in!"

Needing no other prompting, the sextet (septet counting Az) helped themselves to everything on the table.

"Oh phy osh! Thiff foosh is so sheliscious!" Dally mumbled through the jam covered baguette he was stuffing down his throat, causing a large amount of spit and jelly to pour down his front.

"Ugh, don't talk with your mouth full idiot, haven't you ever heard of manners?" Eva asked irritably, before grinning widely as she wildly chomped away at her own jammed loaf of bread, sending bits of jam and crumbs to fly all over the place.

Yugo, Ruel, and Amalia weren't much better as they practically tore apart anything that was edible before them.

Ironically enough it was Naruto who was the least messy eater, given that despite the speed he was eating at least the large majority of the food he was eating actually stayed inside his mouth.

"So… what was up with the midget lady that was causing trouble?" Naruto asked as he polished off half a dozen croissants.

"That' s a bit of a sto- wait, did you say lady?" Xav asked back with a surprised look as everyone turned their attention towards the whiskered blonde.

"Uh yeah," Naruto muttered, his brow rising as everyone stared at him intensely. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"How do you know that person is a girl?" Eva asked with her own raised eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? It was pretty obvious, her voice was a distinct high pitched feminine tone, used a flexibility-based fighting style, had her hair done up in double buns, and I could just see her breast pressing up against her gi whenever she twisted herself to avoid Yugo. Not to mention she was wearing a pretty strong smelling perfume." Naruto idly listed off while munching on a bagel.

…

…

' _He noticed all that just a minute?'_ Amalia, Eva, and Ruel thought at the same time.

"Anyway," Xav started up again, though his voice sounded a little unsure now. "There is a large baking competition coming up that is held here every five years to see who can make the best bread. It is major event in which only the best of bakers can hope to compete, with the winner getting the honor of serving their bread to the king of Bonta himself."

"Wait, let me guess, one of these bakers doesn't like to lose so they're sabotaging the other competitors to help ensure their own victory?" Ruel asked rhetorically once he put two and two together.

"That's correct, and I was certain I knew who it was until just now," Xav said with a frown as he looked back at Naruto. "Are you sure that person was a woman?"

"I spend three years training with a self-proclaimed super pervert." Naruto stated with a dull look.

"…Alright then, if you say so." Helen said, giving Naruto a strange look before turning her attention towards her husband. "Looks like your father could be innocent like I said Xav."

Nodding his head, Xav sighed tiredly as he sank into a chair himself. "Yeah, perhaps I was just letting my anger at him cloud my judgement after all."

"I don't mean to be rude by cutting into such a sensitive subject, but could someone please give us a little more context to work with here?" Ruel asked somewhat awkwardly, getting the married couple to blush lightly at realizing they'd forgotten about their guests.

"Ehem right, my father and I had a falling out a while ago because of our differences in how we prefer to make our bread. You see…" Xav went into a long story about him and his father's, who's name was Ratweasel, cooking styles, mainly how one preferred a thick crunchy crust while the other like a soft fluffy inside. Something that Yugo was quite sympathetic and understanding of given he was the main cook of their little group.

"Crust crazed as my old man is though, he knows that the quality of bread is reliant on the quality of the ingredients. That's why he scooped up the purest sources of water in Amelka, and why I was so sure he was responsible for destroying all my golden wheat flour so I'd quit since normal flour just won't cut it."

"Speaking of your father dear, isn't that him coming towards the door now?" Helen asked while pointing out a window, where a really short and mostly bald old man could be seen walking towards the house with a bag in his arms.

"Grandpa!" Julie yelled excitedly upon hearing this, running outside and hugging the old man who laughed good-naturedly.

"Ah little doughball, you are getting so big! Here, I brought you two some fresh cream croissants to enjoy!" He said while pulling out said treats which the girl happily started munching on. With her busy, Ratweasel turned his attention towards his son and the others who'd come out, the smiel on his face becoming slightly forced. "Hello son, I'm glad to see that you all are alright. I saw the smoke from my home and was rather worried."

"We were lucky that our new friends here came by before anyone could be seriously hurt." Xav said, his once happy and welcoming voice turning cold and neutral.

"Hmm, it looks like your storehouse has seen better days though. If you want, I can lend you some ingredients for the upcoming competition." Ratweasel offered as he glanced at the ruined warehouse, only for Xav to shake his head.

"Thanks for the offer father, but I'm sure I'll be able to manage on my own."

Dropping the fake smile on his lips, Ratweasel nodded with a frown before turning around to leave. "If you say so, but just so you know, my door is always open for you."

Once he was gone, Xav seemed to relax… "Yeowch!" for all of five seconds before his wife grabbed him by the ear.

"Damn it Xav, when will you two act like the grown men you are and let this stupid rivalry of yours drop." Helen demanded while roughly pulling on her husband's earlobe.

"Ow, ow, he started it, ow, please let go of my ear honey!"

Sighing at his childish words, Helen reluctantly complied with the man's wishes. "Whatever, if you'll excuse me, our children need a bath." She said while marching inside with said kids in tow.

This in turn left Xav all by himself with a rather down expression until Yugo walked up to him and started chatting. In less than a minute the man was back to smiling as he and the young blond happily chatted about cooking styles between breads and gobbal stew.

"Uhh, here we go, he's getting to know the guy." Ruel said with a good-natured roll of his eyes as he and the rest of the group huddled together. "Just you wait, in two minutes he'll be over here saying 'Hey guys, what do you think about lending a hand to someone who really needs our help?'."

"What? And bake bread? Are you nuts? I'd rather get some fighting done, thank you very much." Dally said with a huff.

"Then before you know it we're helping every villager we meet with their problems." Amalia added dully, getting a round of agreement from everyone but Naruto.

"Oh please, like it'll be that bad. Besides, even if Yugo doesn't do that, Ruel would make us stay anyway so he could earn money by betting on the competition itself or something." The whiskered blonde said with a chuckle, causing kama signs to appear in the old Enutrof's eyes while the sound of a cash register opening rang out. "Besides, we were planning to stay here a day or two to rest up and resupply, so might as well lend a hand if we can."

"I can't argue with that." Eva said with a sigh while she, Amalia, and Dally slumped slightly in defeat.

Sure enough, a few minutes later Yugo rejoined the group and asked if they wanted to help Xav out, which they agreed to since Naruto had already convinced them. With that out of the way, they were quickly divvied into four groups.

Eva and Amalia would help Helen with getting more golden wheat flour, Yugo would learn the secrets to cooking the perfect loaf of bread with Xav, Dally and Ruel would work on getting the fresh water, and Naruto…

-Xav's house, Ten Minutes Later-

' _Why did I get stuck with babysitting?'_ Naruto mentally grumbled as he carefully set a sleeping Xav Jr. down in his crib.

After tucking him in and making sure he was ice and comfy, the whiskered blonde sat down in a plain rocking chair, not even blinking when he found himself face to face with Julie. "Can I help you?"

"Are those real?" The little girl asked while pointing to Naruto's whiskered cheeks.

"Yes."

"Can I feel them?"

"…alright."

"Yay!" Julie exclaimed happily as she reached out and rubbed the blonde's cheek curiously.

' _Hmm, I guess it could be worse.'_ Naruto thought with a soft smile that quickly turned into a mischievous grin as he suddenly reached out and tickled Julia's armpits.

-End Chapter-

AN: Honest question here, why did I get so many reviews and PMs begging for this story to continue? Did I accidentally suggest that I was canceling it or something? If I did then I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. With that out of the way, hope you all liked the chapter and please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 12-

-Last Time-

 _"Can I feel them?"_

 _"…alright."_

 _"Yay!" Julie exclaimed happily as she reached out and rubbed the blonde's cheek curiously._

'Hmm, I guess it could be worse. _' Naruto thought with a soft smile that quickly turned into a mischievous grin as he suddenly reached out and tickled Julia's armpits._

-And Now-

At the recently trampled portion of Xav's wheat field, Amalia and Eva helped Helen plant the seeds for golden wheat that the baker had kept in the house for emergencies.

"Are you certain that you'll be able to grow all the wheat we'll need?" Helen asked once she finished spreading the last few seeds. "Golden wheat isn't your run of the mill crop after all, it requires a huge amount of care just to grow normally."

"No need to worry ma'am, Amalia is a Sadida princess, if anyone can grow this stuff in the time we need it's her." Eva said confidently while she and the elder Cra watched said greenette walk to the exact middle of the clearing and get down on one knee.

Taking a deep breath, Amalia clapped her hands together, making them emit a soft green aura before twirling her hands in a molding like motion and slamming one hand against the ground and the other held up before her face. Within seconds the earth beneath her was aglow and several pebbles slowly rose into the air.

"I need some water Eva, but not too much." The princess stated calmly, her eyes closed and her breathing set at a slow steady pace.

"You got it." The elf-girl said as she pulled out her bow and shot an energy arrow at a nearby cloud, causing it to thunder briefly before releasing a soft drizzle across the field.

Silence filled the field after that as the two blondes watched the greenette do her thing. For a while though, nothing seemed to happen and Helen grew increasingly concerned that their plan wasn't going to work.

However, just as the mother of two was about to vocalized her concern once more, her words turned into an amazed gasp as she and Eva watched dozens of tiny golden sprouts gently poked out of the ground. "By Cra, it's actually working."

"I told you it would." Eva stated with a proud smile.

The next half hour or so passed pretty swiftly as Eva continued to make it rain whenever Amalia needed more water and Helen checked over the rapidly growing gilded plants to make sure they were growing properly. Before long the entire field was filled with sparkling golden stalks several feet tall and laden with fat grains ready for the plucking.

Unable to help herself, Helen ran through the field with a happy laugh as her hands brushed across the plants, sending glittering pollen flying through the air. "This is amazing! Now we just have to run this through the mill and we'll have all the flour we need!"

"You hear that Amalia, you really are a true Sadida Princess." Eva called out to Amalia as the greenette got up and shook off the excess rainwater that had collected on her.

"Like there was any doubt." Amalia said in a faux cocky tone before sighing deeply as she stretched her slightly stiff muscles. "Hey, would it be too much to ask for something to drink? I'm parched."

"Of course dear," Helen said while walking up to the greenette, handing her a small jug she had strapped to her hip. "Here, it's bamboo milk, freshly shipped from the Pandawa capital."

"Thank you ma'am," Amalia muttered thankfully, swiftly pulling the cord out and gulping down several mouthfuls of the refreshing liquid. "Ahhh, that hit the spot."

"Great, now would you guys mind helping me already?" Eva asked while slicing a large swath of wheat down with a scythe. "Last I checked, we were on a bit of a time constraint."

Yeah, yeah, relax Eva," Amalia said while stamping her foot on the ground, causing several brambles to burst out of the earth and scoop up the cut wheat into neat little bundles that were then carefully stacked into a cart. "See, we're almost done already."

Rolling her eyes good naturedly at her charge's words, Eva didn't say anything else as she continued to slice the wheat down to be bundled. ' _Hopefully the others are doing as good as we are.'_

-With Ruel and Dally-

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Dally screamed as he ran away from a large angry Gobbal that was trying to squash him.

"Keep it up Dally, I'm about halfway done." Ruel said encouragingly as he held a large jug under a slow pouring tap.

"Easier said then dooAAAAAH!" Dally started to yell, only to be cut off when the Gobbal caught up to him and sent him flying with a powerful ram before turning its angry glare towards the old Enutrof.

"…oh crap," Ruel muttered before running away with a scream as the wooly beast charged at him.

-With Yugo and Xav-

Standing in a small clearing, the baker and the teleporting child were going through a complex series of motions for baking that looked like an odd form of fighting style mixed with dancing. After several minutes of this, Yugo hunched over with a groan as sweat poured from his forehead.

"Phew, this is a lot harder then I thought it was gonna be. I had no idea that cooking bread required such discipline." He muttered tiredly while Xav patted his back, looking barely winded.

"Only if you wish to be the best of the best," The baker said before pointing his thumb over his shoulder once Yugo caught his breath. "I think that's enough for now, let's head back and see how everyone else is doing, maybe get something to eat while we're at it."

"Definitely, I'm hungry enough to eat a whole Gobbal." Yugo said, his stomach growling loudly at the prospect of food as they walked back to Xav's home.

Unknown to the pair, the other two groups had the same idea at the exact same time and before they knew it, the whole gang ended up reuniting outside the baker's house.

"Hey guys! How'd you guys do?" Yugo asked as teams Evalia and Rully, names given by Naruto jokingly before they left, walked up to them.

"No real problems on our end, well other than almost getting my hand crushed in the mill because Amalia distracted me." Eva said as she set a large bag of flour down by her feet.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault that stupid dragoturkey tried to eat my skirt!" Amalia yelled indignantly as she fiddled with the back of her outfit, where a noticeable chunk had been torn out of the leafy material.

"Same here, our task was a piece of cake. No trouble at all." Ruel said as he set down the jug of water with a victorious smirk, at least his best attempt of one with how bruised up his face and body was, with an equally battered up Dally leaning on his shoulder for support.

"If you say so Ruel." Yugo mumbled with a giggle, clearly not believing the old man's words.

As they were talking, Xav opened the bag of flour and pulled out a handful of the glistening powdered grain, slowly letting it slip through his fingers with an analytical look. He then dusted his hand off and poured a tiny amount of the water into his mouth, swishing it around a few times before swallowing with a wide grin.

"These are perfect! The quality is just what we need to win!" He said confidently as he scooped up the two items.

"Of course dear, now come on, the contest starts in a few hours and you all should get something… to…" Helen trailed off midsentence as her nose twitched. "Oh my, what is that delicious smell?"

Not knowing what she was talking about at first, the rest of the group began to sniff the air curiously. Sure enough though, each one of them swiftly found themselves baffled as a delectable smelling aroma filled their nostrils.

"I don't know, but whatever it is seems to be coming from your house." Ruel said as everyone turned to said home. With their curiosity peaked, the group went inside and found quite the interesting sight.

"Hey guys, all done already?" Naruto asked as he measured filled a mixing bowl with flour, eggs, and other such materials. At the same time one of his clones was carefully working over the firepit, stirring a large pot of bubbling broth while another was entertaining Julie by making several items float around her with wind chakra.

"Yep, it was actually pretty easy." Amalia said with a shrug before pointing at the mixing bowl in the original blonde's grasp. "And it would seem we weren't the only ones who were busy. What are you making?"

"Only the best food ever, ramen!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile as he added one last pinch of salt to the bowl.

"Huh, I've never heard of it before, is it a local delicacy?" Xav asked curiously, only to blink in surprise when Naruto and his clones suddenly lost their happy demeaner, the once energetic air around them being replaced with somberness and depression. "Is something wrong?"

"That's a bit of a sore subject for him sir, I'd suggest you'd let it go for now." Eva told him quietly, getting the baker to nod in understanding.

"So… how long until this ramen is finished?" Ruel asked, making Naruto cheer up a bit at the change of subject.

"Twenty minutes or so, I just need to make the noodles." The whiskered blonde said while raising his hand up and holding it palm down over the mixing bowl to everyone's confusion. Before any of them could question this action though, they all watched in awe as a spiraling ball of energy suddenly formed in Naruto's grasp, rapidly mixing the ingredients together into a perfect ball of dough.

He then took that dough in hand and rapidly kneaded the substance into thin strands which he then proceeded to slice to the perfect length and pour into the boiling broth. All of this took him less than ten minutes and when he was done, Naruto turned back to the group to talk more, only to freeze when he found Yugo, Amalia, and Dally right in his face with excited eyes. "Uhhh… can I help you?"

"What was that cool ball thing you did?! It was so awesome looking!" Yugo asked excitedly.

"Oh, you mean the Rasengan?" Naruto asked while forming another sphere in his hand, only this one was about a third the size of the last one. "It was invented by my father and is one of my most powerful jutsu in my arsenal."

"Really? That little thing?" Dally asked as he looked at the mini Rasengan with mild disbelief. "It looks so harmless though."

"Looks can be deceiving Dally," Naruto said with a smirk before the Rasengan quintupled in size, making the warrior jump back in surprise while everyone else stared in awe at the attack, the constant spirals of energy creating a hypnotic like effect. "Watch this."

Letting it shrink back to it's original size, Naruto walked over to the nearest wall and slowly pressed the attack against it, stunning everyone once more as it effortlessly drilled through the stone like it wasn't even there. Allowing the jutsu to disperse, the blonde used a weak earth jutsu Jiraiya taught him to fill the hole he'd made.

"And that's just at half-power, a full strength Rasengan would have turned the whole wall and everything behind it into shrapnel." Naruto said with a shrug, missing everyone's shocked expressions as he walked back to the firepit, dispelling the clone he had there while he scooped up a ladleful of the soupy dish and tasted it. "Alright! It's ready!"

Grabbing a nearby stack of bowls, Naruto swiftly filled each one to the brim and passed them around before helping himself to a nice big serving.

However, whilst the whiskered blonde chowed away happily, but a bit awkwardly given he was unused to using a spoon, and a certain orange haired warrior was all to happy to just dive right in without a care, the rest of the room were a bit more… casual with their first bite.

Yugo, Ruel, Julie, Xav, and Amalia each hefted large spoonful into their mouths with curious expressions while Eva and Helen took much small and cautious bites. However, for every single one of them the reaction was the same the instant the noodles and broth touched their taste-buds.

"By Sadida! This is delicious!" Amalia exclaimed as she quickly shoveled more of the Ramen into her mouth, with Ruel, Yugo, Eva and Julie doing the same.

"It is quite tasty, you have quite some talent young man," Helen said with a nod, her and her husband eating at a sedate pace, taking their time to fully enjoy the meal. "The flavor is incredibly well balanced."

"Hehehe, thanks, I'm glad you like it." Naruto said sheepishly.

"Indeed, and I must say that Rasengan of yours makes an excellent mixer, these noodles are perfectly textured," Xav added, grabbing one of said noodles and running it through his fingers. "In fact, it gives me an idea."

-A few hours Later-

Yugo felt just a little bit nervous as he and Xav stood atop a large stage with a large crowd standing before them cheering at the top of their lungs. He knew that this was gonna be a contest and all, but the teleporter was certainly not expecting this large a crowd to show up to watch people baking bread.

"Welcome everybody to the fifty-third bakers contest!" An extremely fat man with a pale white face yelled dramatically as he did an odd jig on stage while an equally fat woman who looked eerily similar to him bowed to the cheering crowd.

"Now for those of you who are new, the winner of today's competition be named the best baker in the land" The woman said with a smile.

"Not only that, but this year's winner will also get the honor of presenting their bread to the king of Bonta himself." Mr. Judge said before gesturing to Xav and Yugo. "Our first contestants are Xav the Baker and his new assistant Yugo!"

Clapping a pair of wooden fish together to calm the crowed as they cheered, Ms. Judge continued the introduction. "There is really no need to introduce our second competitor, Master Ratweasel and his assistant Chouquette." Said old man stood beside an elderly woman, who looked basically like a non-bald female version of him. "Ratweasel is the reigning champion and has been unbeaten for several years but now he must face against his old apprentice and son."

Inside the crowd, Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion the moment he saw Ratweasel's assistant. Nudging Eva's side to get her attention, he pointed to Chouquette and said in a hushed tone. "That lady is totally the one who attacked Xav's place, she has the exact same height and hairstyle."

"Got it, I'll keep an eye on her in case she tries to pull anything." The Cra said with narrowed eyes.

"Competitor three: Grool, fresh from the fields with his apprentice Gagnok!" Mr. Judge exclaimed while gesturing to an obese looking cat man with a young redhead boy sitting in the palm of his large hand.

"Competior number four: Macrobio!" Mr. Judge said with hearts in her eyes as she gestured to a muscular man wearing a lab outfit and a gangly man in the background. "He's back from Bonta with all-new techniques, some would say they're still pretty experimental."

"Maybe we should have someone stand in for us when we try his bread. Matemate!" Mr. Judge whispered jokingly, making Ms. Judge laugh briefly before frowning when he pointed to a lovely pinkette who was holding two large buns up to her chest. "And finally Competitor Number Five: My favorite Shosanne! She's new on the scene and can probably hold her own!"

"We'll see about that." The woman muttered as she and her partner moved to the side, allowing the bakers to all get lined up in a running position. "Alright everyone, on your marks… get set… … GO!"

Breaking out into a run, Yugo and Xav quickly made it to their station and gathered up the ingredients they'd need to make their dough, not paying any attention to the running commentary that the two judges had going on.

Meanwhile, back in the crowd Naruto was watching all this with a raised brow while the rest of the gang cheered Yugo and Xav on. "Uhhh, okay, am I the only one who thinks this is a bit weird?" He asked, getting Amalia, Eva, and Helen's attention.

"What do you mean Naruto?" Eva asked back curiously.

"Well, aren't we-hold on a sec," Naruto started to say, only to be cut off as one of Yugo's portals suddenly opened up near the ground in front of him. Forming a weak Rasengan in his hand, the whiskered blonde carefully balanced the sphere on his finger and pressed it through the portal, causing it to reappear out the other one Yugo had balanced over his and Xav's mixing bowl.

"Oh my! Would you look at that! Now that's a mixing technique I've never seen before!" Mr. Judge exclaimed with wide eyes as he and Ms. Judge watch the sphere do its work.

"Me either! It certainly as amazing as Xav described it would be!" The obese woman said with a nod. Earlier, before the contest began, Xav had talked to the judges to see if he'd be allowed to do this, to which the judges agreed since it sounded cool and Naruto technically wasn't participating as Yugo was the one 'using' the Rasengan.

You got to love loopholes sometimes.

A few seconds later, Naruto let the Rasengan disperse after getting a discreet signal from Xav in the form of him twirling his baking peel.

"Ahem, anyway, as I was saying, doesn't it feel like we're overdramatizing this a bit?" The whiskered blonde asked as he turned his attention back to his friends, but still watching out of the corner of his eye as Yugo and Xav kneaded the dough by… throwing it in the air and kicking it? "I mean, I get that it's a contest and all and it must be pretty intense for the competitors, but it's not exactly that exciting to watch happen, no offence Helen-san."

"None taken Naruto," The mother of two said as a completive sheepish look appeared on her face. "In fact now that I think about it, we are acting a bit silly."

"Yeah, why were we all excited about this again?" Amalia asked, her prior enthusiasm fading away as she realized she was getting hyped up by a bread baking competition of all things.

"Sounds like we got crowd hype syndrome," Eva said as she calmed down as well, rolling her eyes when she saw the confused looks on everyone's faces before adding, "We got drawn into the excitement of the crowd."

"Ahhh, yeah that makes sense." Amalia muttered while Helen and Naruto nodded in agreement.

Unbeknownst to the group, several bystanders overheard this conversation and inadvertently ended up snapping them out of their own excitement. And while a few of these people simple shrugged off it off as nothing, quite a few ended up agreeing with Eva's deduction and either left to find something more interesting or point this out to their friends then leave, who in turn did the same.

This in turn set off an unintended chain reaction that spread through the whole crowd and before anyone even realized what happened, over four-fifths of the gathered people had dispersed. And more then a few of the remaining individuals looked ready to follow if it wasn't for Macrobio's bread spontaneously disintegrating and the rather dramatic reentrance Shosanne.

Well that and the ones who'd already placed bets on the outcome of the competition.

Of course, neither the contestants or the judges seemed to notice this, too focused on the 'action' going on onstage reaching its zenith, the tasting of the finished bread.

"Alright, we will now judge each contestant's bread based on five points, the shape of the bread, smell, crunchiness of the crust, texture and finally the taste." Mr. Judge explained as he and Ms. Judge walked from one contestant to the next, carefully sampling each person's bread.

After a while, Shosanne and Grool found themselves dismissed from the stage, the former stomping off with an angry huff while the latter shrugged the loss off with a bored expression.

"And now for the moment of truth, every… body… what the heck? Where did everyone go?" Mr. Judge muttered in surprise as he finally looked towards the crowd, which was now reduced to just two dozen or so people while several people were walking off, muttering angrily under their breaths after handling several handfuls of kamas to a certain old Enutrof.

"Maybe they had some bad bread?" Ms. judge suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's probably it," The obese man said before clearing his throat. "Anyway, as I was saying, Master Ratweasel, your bread is a work of art as usual, wonderful enough to grace the world's greatest tables!" As Mr. Judge spoke, a scoreboard above the stage made of baker peels dinged twice while adding two points.

"Xav, your bread was a real treat, with an exquisite taste and texture that we've never had before," Ms. Judge praised as the scoreboard honked twice. "However it lacked the crust it deserved."

"This was a close decision, and it was only after deep consideration that we have determined a winner." Mr. Judge said with a wide grin. "And to that end we decide to award novelty and innovation."

"Thus we are proud to declare Xav the winner of this year's competition!" Ms. And Mr. Judge declared at the same time, getting Yugo and his friends to cheer while half the remaining crowd groaned in defeat before handing a grinning Ruel their money and walking off angrily.

"You… you… you bunch of doughballs!" However, the moment was short lived as an angry Chouquette burst out in rage, screaming at the two judges as she slammed her fist against the ground, filling the air with flour that swiftly cleared to reveal her dressed up just like the person who'd attacked Xav's wheat field while standing atop a brand new Breadnaught. "I'll show you novelty and innovation."

"Well Naruto, looks like you called it." Eva said while drawing her bow.

"Ah, you make it sound like you doubted me." Naruto retorted playfully, getting in a ready stance along with Amalia, Ruel, and Dally.

"Chouquette! How dare you!" This proved unnessasary though as Ratweasel himself appeared atop the Breadnaught and froze the tiny woman in place with a fierce glare.

"B-but Master! They've insulted you!" Chouquette said, sending Yugo and Xav a dirty look as Breadnaught started to move again, only for Ratweasel to grab his assistant and pull her close, his glare not wavering an inch. Eventually, the little woman gave a defeated whine and her bread golem vanished in a puff of flour, leaving her and the old midget baker on the stage.

"Forgive me master, I-I only did it out of love for you!" She cried, tears streaming from her eyes as she snuggled her head into the crook on Ratweasel's neck. Said midget kept up his glare for a few more seconds before finally easing up with a sigh and wrapping his arms around the sobbing woman, telling her that it was alright as he rubbed her back.

"Ahhh, would you look at that, the old crouton has a heart of dough after all." Amalia said, gushing a bit at the sweetness of the scene.

"And it looks like he isn't the only one." Eva said as they watched Xav walk up to the pair of midgets once Chouquette stopped crying and started talking with his old man, a genuine smile working its way on both their faces as they apparently finally managed to resolve their differences.

"It's about time those two finally acted their age," Helen said with a relieved smile. "Now who's up for a celebratory dinner?"

"Oh, can we have more of that Ramie stuff?" Dally asked eagerly, making the group sans Eva chuckle at his mispronunciation.

"Sure Dally, besides I did promise Helen-san and Xav-san that I'd teach them how it's made." Naruto said while clapping the Iop's back.

-End Chapter-

AN:I'll be honest, this chapter was hard for me. I mean seriously, how was I supposed to make a bread baking competition sound epic in a story when even in the show it seems way to overdramatic, so I went with this. The first time you watch that episode it seems kinda cool sure, but the second and third time its like 'are they really that hyped up watching people make bread?'. I mean, I love to cook myself, but it is boring as hell watching someone else, no matter how many cool tricks they pull off.

That being said, I'm not really sure how well this chapter turned out, so any advice or tips would be nice. Thank you for reading and please review.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 13-

-Last Time-

 _"It's about time those two finally acted their age," Helen said with a relieved smile. "Now who's up for a celebratory dinner?"_

 _"Oh, can we have more of that Ramie stuff?" Dally asked eagerly, making the group sans Eva chuckle at his mispronunciation._

 _"Sure Dally, besides I did promise Helen-san and Xav-san that I'd teach them how it's made." Naruto said while clapping the Iop's back._

-And Now-

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, coming from the home of Xav the Baker. Taking a peek inside, you could see Eva, Amalia, Dally, and Ruel helping themselves to a large spread of baked goods, laughing and chatting happily along with Helen, Xav, and Ratweasel. In fact, the old man had just finished revealing to them all that their 'magic map' was in fact a Shushu he used to own.

"That old thing can be a real annoyance if you don't know how to keep it in its place," The od midget said, getting a round of agreement from the travelers.

"No kidding, it wasn't until Naruto threatened to tear the stupid thing apart and use it as toilet paper that it actually led us the right way for once." Eva grumbled, making Ratweasel break into laughter.

"Ohohoho! Now that is a good one! I normally just held it over a fire!"

Meanwhile, Naruto and Yugo were in the kitchen, the former watching carefully as the latter made a small pot of broth.

"Man Yugo, you're a really fast learner," The whiskered blonde said as he tasted the bubbling liquid with a grin. "It took me days to get this part down."

"What can I say, I've always had a knack for cooking." Yugo said sheepishly.

"Well then, let's see how good a knack that is, time to start working on the noodles."

"Alright!"

Chuckling at the boy's excitement, being reminded of himself a bit, Naruto watched with a smile as Yugo carefully measured out the ingredients to the dough. However, a few seconds later, his attention was drawn back to the others by a loud feminine yell of outrage followed by several slaps.

The source of the commotion was none other than Amalia, who had a copious amount of jam oozing down the side of her face as she glared at a sheepish Dally and apologetic Eva, both with red hand marks on their cheeks.

"By Sadida! Can't you two eat like normal people for once in your lives!?" The greenette growled out at the duo angrily, before running a finger through her messed up hair. "Ugh, this is gonna take forever to wash out."

"Here, let me help," Amalia yelped cutely in surprise when Naruto suddenly appeared literally right in front of her, leaning in so their faces were barely a few inches apart and started gently wiping the purple goop off with a damp rag. "Heh, sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"It's… fine, just don't do it again." She muttered quietly as a light blush spread across her cheeks from their close proximity. Normally she would have given a more scathing remark, but let it go this time since Naruto was just trying to be helpful, plus the jam was grossing her out a bit now as it started to run down her neck. ' _Besides, it wasn't like he-_ '

"Man Happa-chan, you really know how to take care of yourself, your hair is so soft and healthy."

'… _said something incredibly embarrassing like that._ ' Amalia mentally groaned, her blush exploding across her face from Naruto's offhand compliment as he combed through her green locks. "Of course I do, I am the princess of the Sadida kingdom after all. I must always be able to look my best."

"Well then, mind giving me a few tips then? I've always had a bit of a dandruff issue that I just can't seem to deal with." Naruto admitted while tugging at a tuft of his own hair.

"Sure, well first you should consider…" The princess soon went into a surprisingly long explanation on the various methods of proper hair care, while Eva chimed in from time to time. As they were talking, none of the group noticed as Ruel discreetly slunk away from the group and towards a pot filled with gold coins sitting in the corner.

Looking around to make sure no one was looking, the old man smiled greedily as he scooped a handful of them up. Swiftly stuffing them into his pocket, he dove his hand in to grab more, tightly gripping the pieces of…

*Squish*

"What the…chocolate?" Ruel muttered in surprise as he pulled he held his hand up to see the squished coins in his hand, regular and white chocolate smeared across his palm. Looking down at the rest of the 'gold', the Enutrof couldn't help but give a low whistle as he threw away the squished sweets and wiped the chocolate off his hand. "Impressive, these look just like genuine Kamas, whoever made them sure knew what they were doing."

"Thanks, I'm glad to hear that someone appreciates my work," A female voice said from behind him in a cold tone, making Ruel freeze as a hand clamped down tightly on his shoulder. Slowly turning his head, his face rapidly lost color as he saw Helen standing behind him with a smile that promised a lot of pain. "Though that begs the question, if you thought they were real, why exactly were you so eagerly shoving them in your pocket?"

"Uhhhhh… I think I'm gonna go baaaaAAAAH!" Ruel yelped in pain as the Cra mother grabbed him by the ear and ruthlessly pulled up on it and dragged him away. "OW! Mercy! Mercy! MERCY!?"

"Well, looks like Ruel's greed got him into a pickle once more." Yugo said while kneading the lump of dough under the instruction of a clone Naruto left in his place.

"He's just like Ero-sennin, only with an obsession for money instead of girls," The real Naruto said with a nostalgic chuckle before turning his attention back to Amalia as he finished cleaning her face. "How's that? Any stickiness still?"

"No, you got it all." The greenette muttered, sighing under her breath in relief as the whiskered blonde finally stepped away.

"Great, now to get back to-" *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* Naruto was cut off mid-sentence by a tapping knocking at the door, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look towards the slab of wood curiously.

"Huh? I wonder who that could be." Xav muttered as he got up from his seat and went to greet whoever it was, with Yugo and Dally tagging along in curiosity. Upon opening the door, the three of them were greeted by the sight of a small white fluffy creature with a long snout, a red bow, and a wagging tail.

"Hey, it's Kabrok's Snoofle, what's it doing here?" Yugo asked in surprise as the creature sniffed around the entrance.

"The black crow must be here for revenge!" Dally proclaimed dramatically, accidentally spitting jam all over the place as he jumped outside with Rubilax held at the ready, only to be dragged back inside a second later by an exasperated Eva.

"Relax you Iop-brain, that's not Kabrok's snoofle, his is a dark blue. It probably belongs to that man over there." She said dully, pointing to a feminine man wearing fancy traveling clothes that was standing a few feet away with a smug smile.

"Well, well, it is nice to finally be noticed." The man said dramatically as he stepped closer.

"Oh, good morning sir, I'm sorry but the bakery isn't quite open yet, so you'll have to come back later." Xav said kindly, causing the newcomer to recoil in faux indignation.

"You don't get it do you!?" The man exclaimed while striking several 'dramatic' poses. "I am Rich McDeek the great! I am a courier!"

"Oooh! A warrior? Like Percidal?" Yugo asked excitedly, misunderstanding what the newly named McDeek said, who looked entirely unimpressed as he glanced towards the jam-faced Iop who'd gone back to snacking at the table after losing interest in the conversation.

"Erm… No, not exactly."

"He said courier Yugo not warrior, someone carries important news from town to town in order to keep the general populous informed on the going-ons of the world." Eva explained the teleporting child, before rolling her eyes good-naturedly when Amalia shoved past her and bounced excitedly in front of McDeek.

"Which means you must have oodles of juicy gossip for us to eat up, right?!"

"Why of course, I wouldn't be a good courier if I didn't," The fancily dressed man said, grabbing the princess's hand and giving it a gentle kiss. "The real question is, what kind of gossip are you wanting to hear. Would you be interested in the latest fashions of the world? The most recent Gobbowl match results? Or perhaps you'd like to hear the latest news, about the mind boggling mysterious evil making several of the world's greatest fortunes vanishing overnight?"

"WHAAAAAT!?" Everyone jumped as a horrified scream erupted from the house before a slightly beat up Ruel barged past everyone in a panic and grabbed the courier by the front of his shirt. "What do you mean vanished!? A fortune doesn't just disappear!"

Either by pure nonchallantness or a large amount of self-discipline, McDeek maintained his happy and calm demeanor despite being manhandled so rudely. "That's just the thing, they are gone, whether they be guarded by might, magic or both, they are just gone. Poof, never to be seen again"

As McDeek spoke, the panic on Ruel's face grew before he tossed the courier aside and ran off fast enough to leave both a literal trail of dust in his wake and several confused people.

"…Should we go after him?" Naruto asked with a tilted head, prompting his companions to snap out of their own confusion and make chase. However, upon catching up with Ruel they were greeted with a rather… interesting sight.

*Slurp* *Slurp* *Slurp*

"Okay, that is a new one," Naruto stated as the group watched Ruel swiftly being eaten by his own bag of all things. Turning to his friends with a perfect 'WTF' look on his face, he gestured to the scene before them. "Yugo, why is Ruel being eaten by his own bag?"

"Believe me, this is new for me as well." Yugo muttered, before shaking his head to clear away the shock and grabbing onto Ruel's foot, the only part of him that was still out of the bag. "Quick! Help me pull him out!"

"Ugh! You want me to touch Ruel's nasty feet?! No way, no how!" Amalia exclaimed in disgust, taking several steps back while Dally, Eva, and surprisingly McDeek grabbed Yugo's waist for leverage.

"They certainly don't smell like roSES!" Dally screamed out as he, Yugo, and Eva were suddenly pulled into the bag as well, leaving only Eva's legs sticking in the air kicking wildly. Gasping in worry, Amalia swiftly rushed forward and grabbed onto the flailing limbs along with Naruto to try and rescue their friends.

When they tried to pull them free though, they instead ended up lifting the bag itself off the ground. Then to their surprise, the bag rapidly climbed up towards them by rapidly swallowing Eva's legs and before either of them could react engulfed them both and dropped them into a surprisingly large cloth chamber.

"Oof!"

Directly on top of their friends to be exact.

"Well… that was fun." Naruto muttered sarcastically as he got to his feet, easily shaking off the sudden fall and taking in his new surroundings, a large tent-like room made of patchworked and stained green and white fabric that allowed sunlight to gently filter in. What really caught his attention though, were the piles upon piles of seemingly random junk all over the place.

*Sniff* *Sniff* "Oh Kami, I think I'm gonna be sick!?"

…Well that and the horrible stench that flooded the whiskered boy's nostrils the second he took a breath.

Stumbling back with a gag, Naruto clamped his hands over his nose as his whole face turned a sickly green color, barely managing to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat. And he wasn't the only one as everyone else but Dally and Ruel had similar reactions once they managed to get their bearings, with said old coot digging around the piles of junk in a mad panic.

"What is this place? And why does it smell like rancid meat and dragoturkey manure?" Amalia asked in a slightly funky tone as she pinched her nose as hard as she could.

"It's a Haven Bag, a dimensional bag, don't tell me you don't know what it is?" McDeek stated casually, his voice also a bit higher thanks to the clothes pin holding his nostrils shut. "It's a very useful item, it provides enormous storage space, a place for its owner to rest, and some even use it as a workspace."

"Well that would explain where Ruel's been going to at night," Eva muttered before looking towards said old man with a frown, watching him mumble incoherently under his breath while carelessly tossing random objects around in his search. "Speaking of crazy old coots, what's wrong with you Ruel? You're acting like you lost your Kama purse or something."

"It's a personal issue, nothing for you all to be concerned about. Just leave me to my business, the exit is over there. _"_ Ruel said, pointing to a rope ladder sewn into the wall.

"You heard the greedy Enutrof, let's get out of here before we all suffocate to death." Amalia said as she eagerly walked towards said ladder, only to be stopped by Eva grabbing her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't, we aren't going anywhere until you tell us-"

"Ah-ha! There you are." Ruel cut the elf-girl with an excited shout as he uncovered a small chest and popped it open, revealing several small vials filled with a shining golden liquid.

"Recall potions?" Eva said questioningly when Ruel lifted up one of the bottles, before she and the rest of the group watched in awe as the old man gulped the liquid down and burst into a cloud of bubbles.

"Cool!" Yugo said excitedly while rushing over and grabbing a potion.

"Wait! Don't drink that Yugo, you have no idea- *Poof* …where it will take you." Eva finished dully as the boy eagerly drank the teleporting drink and also poofed out of sight.

"Oh relax Eva, if Ruel was willing to use one himself then it's probably fine." Amalia said casually as she, Dally, and McDeek grabbed a vial each.

"Yeah right, are you forgetting the part where we still barely know anything about Ruel even after travelling with him for over a month." Eva stated, before sighing in irritation when she saw the three completely ignore her and drink the potions anyway. "Oh come on, is anyone listening to me today?"

"Hey, I'm still here, aren't I?" Naruto asked back with a raised brow, making the elf-girl blush lightly in embarrassment for forgetting about him. Picking up a pair of vials, the whiskered teen held one out towards his fellow blonde. "So we're gonna follow after them?"

Sighing once more, only this time in defeat, Eva nodded as she accepted the potion. "Might as well, everyone else has already."

And with that, they both took a drink.

-End Chapter-

AN: Okay, okay, okay, before any of you rage at me for this chapter being short, let me explain. You see, my brother unplugged my computer while I was at work and it was in the middle of updating, thus my files were all fritzed out. So I lost almost this entire chapter and this is all I was able to salvage so far and I already a few days late on an update, so I'm posting a half finished chapter this time. Still, I do hope you all still enjoyed it and please leave your comments in the reviews.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

PS: I am now helping a collaboration story with XXX777 and Anonymous Ideas called **Sitch Across Worlds** which is being posted on the latter's account, so please give it a look if you'd like.

Thank you and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 14-

-Last Time-

 _"Hey, I'm still here, aren't I?" Naruto asked back with a raised brow, making the elf-girl blush lightly in embarrassment for forgetting about him. Picking up a pair of vials, the whiskered teen held one out towards his fellow blonde. "So we're gonna follow after them?"_

 _Sighing once more, only this time in defeat, Eva nodded as she accepted the potion. "Might as well, everyone else has already."_

 _And with that, they both took a drink._

-And Now-

The instant the liquid passed Eva's lips the world seemed to blast apart with everything violently twisting and turning around her in a vortex of motion. Just as quickly as it started though, it all stopped and the Cra found herself slowly standing up from a kneeling position atop a large glowing rune.

Inhaling sharply on reflex, she quickly shook off the disorientation she felt from the teleportation and took in her surroundings as she got up. Clearly she was no longer was she in the Haven bag nor was she back at the Baker's village as all she could see around her were barren sandstone cliffs and old decrepit structures.

"Whoa! Man, what a trip," Naruto said with a chuckle as he wobbled a bit beside her, still feeling just a little bit dizzy from the transportation. "That was so much more fun than the Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Naturally not knowing what he was talking about, Eva chose not to comment on it and instead asked a more pressing question. "Where is everyone else?"

"Probably ran off ahead, Ruel did seem in a big hurry and the others aren't exactly the patient types." Naruto said with a shrug, to which Eva nodded in agreement with a sigh.

"Yeah, that sounds about right, which means we have to follow after them," The Cra muttered under her breath. Normally such a task would be easy for her, but this area was pretty much impossible as the enclosed rock walls prevented her from using her enhanced sight and the constant breeze disturbed any tracks or scents she could have followed. "Naruto, could you possibly use that sage mode of yours in a short burst? Just long enough to figure out which way they went."

"Oh sure, just give me a minute." Naruto said with a nod before going completely still with his head bowed. After a while, his eyes gained an orange outline before just as quickly dissipating while Naruto reopened his eyes and pointed in a seemingly random direction with a frown. "They're about five hundred yards that way."

"Is something wrong?" Eva asked, noticing the sudden bad mood her fellow blonde was in.

"McDeek, that man is practically oozing with greed, hunger, and deceit, plus his lifeforce feels odd… metallic almost." Naruto said, his eyes narrowing as he stared in the direction he felt his friends were at.

"Oh, well that sounds fantastic," Eva muttered with a sigh, before pausing as her brain registered a certain fact of the blonde's statement. "Wait, you can feel other people's emotions?"

"Somewhat, but most of the time they feel dampened, like holding something with thick gloves on," Naruto explained before motioning to his back. "We can discuss it more later, we need to catch up with those guys and find out what's up with McDeek, hop on."

"Uh, I can walk on my own you know." Eva said with a quirked brow.

"This will be much faster Eva, trust me." Naruto said while motioning to his back again.

Knowing that he could be just as stubborn, if not more so, then her charge, Eva rolled her eyes in exasperation and reluctantly climbed onto the whiskered teen's back piggyback style. "Alright, I'm on, happy now?"

"Yep." Naruto said with a wide grin before both blondes suddenly vanished in a static blur, followed by a high-pitched scream in the distance that rapidly faded away.

-Two Minutes Earlier, Stroud Residence-

Inside a large home filled with various treasures, weapons, books, and other such things Amalia, Yugo, and Dally were excitedly digging around in the piles of items.

"Man, who knew Ruel had such a lavish home." Amalia said as she flopped into a large cushioned chair with a jeweled chalice in hand. "I always thought his place would be some rundown dump that he never cleans up. You know, just like himself."

"Well it does make sense in a way, Ruel's always collecting valuable stuff and he's never willingly paid for anything for as long as I've known him. He had to be doing something with it all of it over the years." Yugo said while he and Dally meddled around with a pile of weapons.

"True," The princess said with a nod before suddenly shivering as a familiar euphoric sensation flashed through her briefly. At the same time, unnoticed by the girl, the scar on her side flickered with a soft green glow for just a few seconds. "Naruto's on his way, and he probably has Eva with him."

"You think they'll be mad that we didn't wait for them?" Yugo asked a little nervously while Dally started sweating, both gulping when they remembered Eva's anger during the Demonic Rose incident.

"Meh, not really," Amalia said with a shrug as dropped the chalice and stood back up. "I've ditched Eva before when she was acting like a stick in the mud. She'll be annoyed and a bit grumpy, but otherwise she'll be fine."

"Okay, and what about Naruto?" Dally asked, making Amalia pause as all of them remembered Naruto brutally taking down Vampyro and his ghouls.

…

"…Anyone want to go see where Ruel and McDeek ran off too?" Yugo asked quietly, getting nods from his two companions before the trio started booking it in the direction they'd seen the old man and courier go earlier.

At the exact same time, Naruto and Eva seemingly appeared in front of the mansion-like building, a trail of dust and a high-pitched scream following after them a few seconds later.

"See, I told you that it'd be faster." Naruto said with a grin as Eva slowly climbed off his back.

"I'm pretty sure my stomach… just got introduced… to my brain." The Cra wheezed, her whole body trembling from adrenaline and excitement form the sudden thrill she'd just experienced. "That was the fastest I've ever gone… in my entire life."

"You okay Surudoi-chan?" Naruto asked while sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

Taking a few deep breaths to help calm down, Eva nodded as she quickly managed to get herself to stop shaking and relax. "Yeah, just got me by surprise. Give me a little more warning before you do something like that next time, got it?"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto said before turning his attention back towards the house. "So, are we gonna knock or just barge in?"

"Probable going to have to bust our way in. I'm betting this is Ruel's home and Enutrofs are notorious for making sure they don't have any visitors." Eva said with her bow drawn, looking over the entire area carefully before locking her gaze on a small dog house as it started shaking.

"Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!" A small blue dog with a spiky black and translucent blue flames surrounding its head barked loudly as it charged out at the pair, stopping just a few feet in front of them.

"A flaming puppy, cool." Naruto said with a grin as the dog growled at them as viciously as it could.

"No, not cool Naruto, that's a guardian pet. They are incredible dangerous because…" Eva started to say, only to be cut off as the dog started glowing brightly before being engulfed in a massive cloud of smoke. When it cleared, it revealed that in place of the tiny little dog that had barely reached halfway up Naruto's knees was an absolutely monstrous sized canine that could swallow both of them whole without effort. "They can do that."

Blinking in surprise at the sudden size change, Naruto craned his head slightly in order to look up at the dog's face as it growled down at them. "Huh, neat trick."

Snarling angrily, the blue canine lifted one of its paws high and swung down with the intent of crushing the two that intruded upon its master's home. Rolling out of the way of the attack, Eva formed an ice arrow and was just about to fire at the beast's face, but stopped when she noticed Naruto hadn't budged an inch.

At first she thought that he was frozen in shock or something, but then quickly dismissed it when she noticed the relaxed, almost bored, look on his face as he watched the paw descend. A second later she saw why as, to the shock of both her and the dog, Naruto's arm shot out and stopped the attack cold.

Then, whilst the canine was frozen in surprise, the whiskered blonde grabbed the limb with both hands and, with barely even a grunt of effort, flipped the entire fucking canine over his shoulder and smashed it into the ground behind him. Shaking it's head from the impact, the dog slowly sat up and growled fiercely…

*Smash*

…So Naruto did it again…

"Grrr…" *Smash*

…and again….

*Smash*

…Then one last time just for good measure.

"You may be big doggie, but your slower than a fish in syrup. Now be a good boy and go FETCH!" Naruto yelled before spinning the dog around rapidly and hurling it straight into the air.

"AAAROOOOOooooooooo…" The canine's howled as it flew in a massive arc over the rocky terrain, rapidly shrinking away into the horizon before finally crashing down with a distant *thud*.

"Ah man, I almost beat my record." Naruto said with a frown, shading his eyes with his hand as he stared at in the direction the dog flew, thus missing the dumbfounded look on Eva's face.

' _By Cra, that had to be at least a mile, and he barely even looks winded!'_ The blonde thought with slightly bugged out eyes as she could only just barely make out the slight irregularity in Naruto's breathing. ' _Just how strong is he?'_

This was something that she'd been wondering ever since Naruto had first awoken, and that curiosity had only skyrocketed every time he showed off more of his power. Solid replications of himself, physical transformations, insane strength, equally absurd speed, elemental manipulation, energy manipulation, and that sage mode of his. Never had she'd seen such a diverse set of abilities, not even by Huppermages, and she had a feeling that was still only scratching the surface.

"Whelp, that was disappointing, thought he would put up more of a fight," Naruto muttered, snapping Eva out of her thoughts as he dusted his hands and walked towards the front door. Giving the wooden slab a once over, the whiskered blonde rapped his knuckles against a few different parts of it gently.

Hearing a swift hollow echo after each tap, he nodded his head before stepping back and lashing out with a kick that knocked the door clean off its hinges and crashing into the wall behind it.

Stepping inside the now open entrance, the blonde couldn't help but let out a low whistle at the horde of valuables inside. "Man, I figured Ruel was a bit of a horder after seeing the inside of his bag but this really takes the cake."

"Meh, it's normal for Enutrofs, unless they have absolutely no other choice they will never give up an ounce of their wealth, and even then they will only go the absolute minimum. It's why most tend to look like homeless bums." Eva said with a shrug as they strolled inside, her eyes locking onto the trails of dusty footprints that covered the floor. "On the plus side, it certainly makes it easy to tell which way they went."

Following the trail further into the house, the pair soon found themselves at a large stair case that went deep into the ground with multiple pictures and shovels decorating the walls. Just as Eva was about to start walking down them however, Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Hold up a sec, something about this doesn't sit right with me." The whisked blonde said with a frown, grabbing a bejeweled chalice that was laying on the ground nearby and tossing it down the stairs.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting* *Ti-click*

On the fourth bounce, Naruto and Eva heard a soft clicking sound before all the stairs flattened out into a slide and the 'decorative' shovels popped out on mechanical arms and started swinging wildly. In just a few seconds the golden cup was crushed repeated before falling into a pit near the bottom of the stairs, at which point the staircase itself reset like nothing happened.

"…Naruto, you mind-"

"Hop on," Naruto said, allowing the Cra to climb on his back once more before wall-walking all the way down the stairs. "It's a good thing Ruel didn't expect a shinobi from thousands of years in the past that can walk on walls, huh?

"I'm pretty sure nobody would expect that Naruto." Eva said with a good-natured roll of her eyes, quickly hopping off his back once they reached the bottom.

"Fair enough, so how much farther do you thi-" *Boom* Naruto was cut off midsentence by the sound of a muffled explosion beneath them as the ground shook. Looking down, Naruto sighed while rubbing his forehead. "Well… either McDeek just revealed his true colors or Dally had too many beans for lunch again."

Eva couldn't help but giggle briefly at her fellow blonde's statement despite the possible seriousness behind it. "Then we better hurry and catch up to everyone else, otherwise we'll miss all the action."

"Alright, but from now on we're taking the express route." Naruto said, causing Eva to look at him in confusion.

"The express route?" She parroted with a tilted.

The smirk she got in response was not comforting what-so-ever.

-Meanwhile-

' _This is bad! This is very, very bad!'_ Ruel thought as he ducked out of the way of a blast of golden energy fired at him by McDeek, who was now many feet taller and had his legs replaced with a smoky red mist in the rough shape of a tail. The pair were currently inside a massive vault filled to the brim with kamas and various other gold items.

Not far away, Yugo, Dally, and Amalia laid on the ground knocked out cold covered with bruises and mild burns.

It turned out that McDeek himself was the culprit behind all the robberies, and he was merely posing as a courier in order to flush out potential victims by spreading the tale of his own misdeeds. The reason for this is because he is an adaptive genie, a being who is the living example of 'you are what you eat' and, much to Ruel's unending horror, had an insatiable appetite for gold.

"Hahaha! You can run all you like you old fool! But you will never get away from me!" McDeek cried as he fired yet another blast that Ruel narrowly dodged. "I can see you getting tired already! Soon you will be nothing but a bloody smear on the wall and I will be free to gorge myself on these delicious kamas!"

' _Gah! Think Ruel! There has to be some way to beat this monster.'_ Ruel thought to himself as he ran, only to snap out of his thoughts with a yelp as he mistimed a dodge and got half his arm frozen by a blast of ice magic as a result. Reacting fast, the old man used the shovel in his other hand to shatter the ice off before the magic could soak into his flesh before using the weapon's hooked side to grab a support beam and slung himself out of the way of yet another golden blast.

Then, whilst McDeek flew past, Ruel swung around behind him with his momentum and wrapped his legs around the genie's throat as tight as he could and hooked the handle of his shovel in his mouth like a bit.

"Gah! Sfry olth copher aren'th you! Buth don'th thinf you fan holth me liketh this forever!" McDeek yelled out as he tried to reach back and pull the old man off.

' _Ugh, he's right,'_ Ruel thought with a grimace, he could literally hear his muscles screaming at him for a rest. Of course, it was only natural considering he was struggling against a twelve-foot flying man literally made of gold. ' _Ugh, if only this were some kind of story or fairy tale, then someone would conveniently bust in here at the last possible moment and… hey, what's that noise?'_

McDeek seemed to be wondering the same thing as he stopped thrashing around as a muffled grinding sound echoed through the room. A few seconds later, both of their attention was brought towards the ceiling as it started cracking up and chunks fell to the floor.

"Whath the fu-"

*Kraka-boom!* "SURPRISE!" Naruto yelled as he and Eva burst through the ceiling, the latter clinging to the former's back once again. The whiskered blonde crashed feet first into the floor hard enough to create a crater several inches deep.

Taking in the situation around him in just a few seconds, Naruto scowled heavily when he saw his friends battered forms before glaring at McDeek's stunned form.

Snapping out of his surprised stupor, McDeek shook off a still dazed Ruel and smirked at the new comers madly. "Well, well, if it isn't the two late guests to the party."

"Well, well, if it isn't one ugly Nōtarin (Dumbass) asking for a beating." Naruto retorted while cracking his knuckles.

"Hahahaha! Oh please, like you could ever hurt me!" The genie laughed mockingly while tapping his chest, causing it to clang metallically with each tap. "I'm made of solid gold thanks to my diet! It is practically indestructible!"

"Oh really?" Naruto asked with a raised brow before smirking as his eyes gained the trademark orange tint and golden toad eyes of sage mode. "Then you won't mind if I test that out for myself will you?"

Scoffing loudly, McDeek floated closer floor with an arrogant smirk and proudly displayed his bare chest for the blonde. "Go right ahead you pathetic fool! Give it your best shot! I'm telling you there is absolutely no way you could-"

*Cla-SCREEEEEEECH* *Crash*

…

…

"…H-how…" McDeek muttered as he stared down at his chest, or more specifically the gaping two-foot-wide hole that now existed in his chest, leaving his literally gold bones and organs out in the open while equally gold blood drenched Naruto's fist which was still hovering in the dead center. "This… i-isn't possible… I'm…"

"Made of one of the most malleable metals in existence. You really should have gone after something like steel or iron," Naruto said with an almost saddened expression on his face. He didn't like killing and hadn't intended to kill McDeek, but unfortunately it seemed he'd severely overestimated just how strong the genie was. "There's a reason gold armor isn't really a big thing after all."

"Ighdgkjfjejog…" McDeek tried to speak but all that came out was a garbled mess as he weakly grasped at his chest. From the wound, Naruto, Eva, and a somewhat recovered Ruel watched as the genie's skin lost its natural hue and changed to a shiny gold.

Giving off a strangled yell upon seeing this, the genie floated around the room looking for his missing piece. Spotting it on the far side of the room embedded into the side of a giant fractured gem, he started to float over to it as quickly as he could.

By the time McDeek reached it though, the only parts of his body left unchanged were the upper half of his head and his hands. Despite this, he still managed to grab the chunk of his chest and give it a few feeble tugs in one last effort to save his life, only for it to end in vain as the transformation finished and his eyes were forever frozen in gold gilded terror.

For a few moments his body remained airborne as the last vestiges of his magic faded away, then with a loud screeching clang he fell to the ground, the missing piece of his chest still firmly locked in his grasp.

McDeek was dead.

"Damn," Ruel said lowly after a long silence as he checked on Yugo, almost feeling pity for the foolish man… almost. ' _Now I'm actually glad Yugo is knocked out right now. He did not need to see this.'_

"Are you okay Naruto?" Eva asked seeing the sadness on Naruto's face. She was a bit disturbed at seeing someone die like that, but thanks to her military training she was able to shrug it off for now and focus on her friend, who still had the same sad expression on his face as he dropped out of sage mode.

Shaking the drops of liquid gold off his hand, Naruto nodded his head slowly and calmly said. "I'm fine."

"Great, then that means you both can get to work fixing THE GIANT HOLE YOU MADE IN MY HOUSE!" Ruel yelled while pointing to said hole, snapping Naruto out of his saddened stupor.

"Alright Irezumi(Stingy)-Jiji, alright, I'll get right on it." The whiskered blonde said with a roll of his eyes before leaning over to Eva and mock whispering. " _Better not tell him what we did to the door or the dog_."

"Hoi! What did you do to- *Crackle* Huh?" Ruel started to yell at the now laughing blondes, only for all three of their attention to be taken by the sound of something breaking. Following it to it's source, the trio were just in time to see the gem that McDeek's chest piece had fractured crack even more before shattering completely, revealing that it had in fact been hollow…

"What the hell… is that a kid!?"

…But not empty.

-End Chapter-

AN: Before any of you ask, that last scene is the introduction of an OC character that is in thanks to a friend of mine who has been helping me with this story as an editor and idea soundboard. If it wasn't for them, I doubt my chapters so far would be even half as enjoyable as most of you have found them. Now, as for Naruto killing McDeek, that's like I said. Naruto overestimated just how strong McDeek was (Which honestly by Naruto's standards isn't that tough since at this point the blonde could probably break a steel girder with just his pinkie) and underestimated how much damage a sage mode powered hit could do to him. Thank you for reading and please review.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 15-

-Last Time-

 _"Hoi! What did you do to- *Crackle* Huh?" Ruel started to yell at the now laughing blondes, only for all three of their attention to be taken by the sound of something breaking. Following it to it's source, the trio were just in time to see the gem that McDeek's chest piece had fractured crack even more before shattering completely, revealing that it had in fact been hollow…_

 _"What the hell… is that a kid!?"_

… _But not empty._

-And Now-

"This is just getting ridiculous." This comment came from Amalia, who was sitting in the back of a cart with a dull expression along with Yugo and Dally as it was pulled down a plain dirt road by a Dragoturkey, all three of them covered in bandages from head to toe.

However, while most would think the greenette's statement was directed towards the multiple injuries she currently had, the truth was soon revealed to be otherwise upon following her gaze towards the trio walking beside the cart.

More specifically, she was focused on Eva, who was currently holding an unconscious boy in her arms of all things as she walked.

He was small, appearing roughly the same size and age of Yugo, with dark skin that made Amalia look pale and glossy hair that started out black at the roots but gradually turned a deep blue while his outfit consisting of plain black pants, shoes, and shirt that were clearly suited more for comfort and durability over style.

The most interesting things to note however, were the small pitch-black antler-like horns that protruded from his forehead just above his eyebrows, the plates that were growing on his forearms, and the pair of translucent blue Eniripsa-like wings connected to his back.

"Seriously first Naruto and now this kid, is finding people sealed inside random objects becoming a thing or something?" Amalia asked dully while stretching a bit to work out the stiffness in her muscles that had formed while she was KO'd, having just woken up after their fight with McDeek a few minutes ago, before staring at Ruel suspiciously. "And why exactly did you have him in your vault?"

"I honestly have no idea Amalia," The old Enutrof said with a shrug as he walked. "That vault holds almost every ounce of treasure the Stroud family has ever collected over the centuries. One of my ancestors probably found the gem the boy was inside and thought it was just that, a large and valuable gem which they helped themselves to."

"…Yeah, I could see that happening," The princess said after thinking it over for a few moments. "You are a cheap old coot that would steal from his own grandmother after all."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I do have some standards of how and from whom I… acquire my wealth from. Ruel said with an indignant huff, though inside his mind he was sweating nervously. ' _Not to mention Nana would skin me alive if I tried such a thing.'_

"Suuuuuure," Amalia drawled out disbelievingly before turning her attention back towards Eva, who was carefully setting the boy down on an unoccupied spot in the cart. "So why haven't you just woken him up and asked him then?"

"We tried, little guy is a heavier sleeper then I am." Naruto said with a chuckle while Eva rolled her eyes good naturedly with a small smile.

"To be more precise, he's in some kind of magically induced hibernation which is likely what was keeping him alive while inside that crystal," She said while wrapping a blanket around the boy and making sure he wasn't hurting his wings or anything. "We'll need to find a Huppermage or Eniripsa to break the spell once we reach Bonta."

"Uh, what?" Dally asked with tilted head.

"He's stuck asleep by magic and we can't wake him up." Ruel simplified for the Iop.

"Oh, well why didn't you say that before?" Dally said while reaching over towards the sleeping boy. "I'll wake him up, just gotta give him a few good sla- *SMACK*-Yeowch!"

"Iop-brain." Eva stated with a huff as said Iop fell back on his ass with a bright cherry-red hand print across his face.

"Speaking of Eniripsas," Amalia started as she and Yugo got closer to the boy, the princess reaching out and gently running her fingers against one of his wings curiously, causing it to flutter lightly from her touch. "Am I the only one who thinks he kinda looks like one only a bit more… buggy-ish?"

"Yeah, we've been talking about that too and right now we're stuck between whether he's an old ancestor of theirs or a hybrid of some kind," Ruel said with Eva and Naruto nodding in agreement. "We won't get a definite answer until after the young lad is awake and can speak for himself though."

"Okay, then how much longer till we get to Bonta then?" Yugo asked, his voice brimming with excitement from both getting to see a large city for the first time and at the idea of a new mystery that needed solved.

"About two more days," Naruto said while unrolling Scribble and giving the map a sinister grin. "Isn't that right map?"

"Yes! Yes! I swear, just follow this road and you'll be at Bonta before you know it! That's the truth!" The magical parchment said quickly, images of sweat drops popping up all around his face.

"It had better be." The whiskered blonde said, giving the map one last glare before rolling it back up and stuffing it back into its case.

"Ah man, two whole days? That sucks." Yugo muttered with a pout that his Tofu Az shared as the ears on his hat drooped in boredom. However, a few seconds later they stood back up as an excited look spread across the boy's face as he turned towards Naruto. "Oh, you can finish telling us that story about the chunin exam thingy now!"

Blinking in surprise at the request, Naruto considered it for a few moments and shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind if you really want to hear about it that much."

"Yes!" Yugo, Dally, and Amalia exclaimed with excited grins while Az twittered happily, Eva turned to him with an interested expression, and Ruel pulled out a familiar notepad.

"Alright then, now let's see, right after the first test finished, the proctor of the second exam showed up in quite an… interesting manner."

-Two Days Later-

"…And then, after opening the scrolls, our teacher from the Academy Iruka-Sensei showed up and explained the meaning behind the two scrolls and the poem on the wall before congratulating us on passing the second test." Naruto said while adjusting his hold on the unconscious boy in his arms, having finally finished with the story as the group walked down the now incredibly busy road.

It had taken him a lot longer for this part of the story since not only did it extend over five days, but he had to constantly stop to explain things such as about the forest of death, the proctor of the test Anko, some of the different villages, who Orochimaru was, and what a curse seal was.

Though this was made up for with his frequent use of Henge to show what certain people looked like and even act out a few scenes when they stopped for the night.

"Whoa… that was the coolest story ever." Yugo said from Naruto's right, his eyes sparkling as he stared up at his fellow blonde with admiration.

"Of all time." Amalia added from the other side of the whiskered blonde with an identical expression.

"Ah come on guys, it wasn't that great." Naruto mumbled sheepishly as he blushed softly.

"Are you kidding me kid, that was one of the most intense and attention-grabbing stories I've heard in my life," Ruel told him while jotting a few last notes down on his pad and stuffing it into his bag. "And trust me, I've heard a lot of stories while on the road. And I'm pretty sure all those people agree."

As he spoke, the old Enutrof pointed backwards with his thumb where a large group of kids following them with similar expressions as Yugo and Amalia. Upon being pointed out, these children rushed forwards and surrounded Naruto, clambering all over him while loudly begging for another story, making the whiskered blonde's blush deepen from all the positive attention he was getting.

' _Hmm, looks like someone isn't so used to being in the spotlight,'_ Eva thought with a smirk, which only grew wider upon seeing the ninja vanish under the swarm of children right after passing the kid in his arms over to Ruel. A few seconds later, there was a muffled popping sound and several clouds of smoke suddenly wafted out of the piled-up kids before a small golden furred fox squeezed its way free and hid behind her.

While she didn't recognize what the animal was, though it looked like a mixed version of a bow-meow and a Bow-wow, Eva had seen Naruto use his transformation ability enough times to know that it was him.

Scooping him up into her arms, she gently scratched his head while giggling under her breath as she watched the children slowly disperse upon finding their target got. "Really? Couldn't just give them another story? You had to run away and hide like a scared Tofu?"

"Hey, you saw those gakis, they were all over me," Naruto said in a joking defensive tone as he gave the Cra holding him a literal foxy grin while settling into grasp. "I had to get out of there pronto."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Who knew the super cool ninja was afraid of a few children." Eva said back with a chuckle… not noticing as Naruto sudden froze in her arms.

" _…super cool ninja… super cool ninja… spuer cool ninja…"_

 _-Konoha, many years ago-_

 _Laughter filled the air as a thirteen-year-old Naruto ran through a forested area with a bright smile on his face followed by a trio of younger kids, a boy with a large scarf around his neck, a girl with bright orange hair, and another boy with glasses and runny nose who were trying to catch him._

 _"Come on you guys! You're never gonna catch me at this rate!" Naruto yelled while easily dodging the trio's attempt to grab him, apparently not noticing as they surrounded him until it was too late._

 _"Ha! You underestimated the Konohamaru Corps Naru-Huh?!" The scarf boy exclaimed while leaping at the blonde from behind… only to be caught in mid-air and tossed into the other boy coming from his left. A split second later the girl was literally thrown into the mix as Naruto grabbed her by the arm when she tried to surprise him from above and used it to smash her into the boys and send all three tumbling across the ground._

 _"Good try guys, you almost had me with that one, almost," Naruto said with a wide grin as he brushed off some imaginary dust and glancing up at the sky. "Well I've got to go meet up with my team now, maybe you guys will get me next time."_

 _Shooting back up to his feet, the scarf boy pointed at the whisked blonde dramatically. "You better believe it Naruto-sama! Just you wait, we'll get you and proof that we are super cool ninjas just like you!"_

 _-_ End Flashback-

"… _Super cool ninjas… super cool ninjas…"_

"Naruto?"

The transformed blonde was snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing someone calling his name, before blinking in surprise when he found himself being held up by a concerned looking Amalia.

"Oh, hey, something wrong?" Naruto asked, nervous sweat drops forming on the back of his head as the greenette stared at him intently. Thankfully for him though, she stopped after a minute or so and set him down on the ground with a weak smile.

"No, nothing wrong, just wanted to ask you what you thought of Bonta so far." She said while gesturing to their surroundings, making the blonde finally notice that they were in fact in the famous city.

It was a very vibrant city with hundreds of beautifully made buildings and hundred of bustling people going about their business. Amazed by the sight, Naruto turned back to normal and stood back at his full height so he could take it all in better.

However, this also prevented him from noticing the concerned looks he was getting from Eva and Ruel who were standing several feet away off to the side, the latter of which was still holding the Eniripsa-like child in his arms.

"Poor kid, it's starting to hit him again." The old Enutrof muttered with a shake of his head.

"We both knew it was only a matter of time," Eva said while watching Amalia drag Naruto off to a nearby clothing store, likely to con him into holding her stuff while she shopped. "This isn't something he can just shrug off forever."

"I am well aware, but what happens when he reaches that point once more is what concerns me." Ruel said before turning around and walking off in a seemingly random direction. "Come on, we still need to wake up our young friend here and I do believe there is a hospital over this way."

Taking one last glance at the blonde and green duo, Eva nodded in agreement before following after the old Enutrof.

-End Chapter-

AN: Filler chapter, not much else to say. I do hope you all enjoyed it regardless though. Thank you for reading and please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 16-

-Last Time-

 _"We both knew it was only a matter of time," Eva said while watching Amalia drag Naruto off to a nearby clothing store, likely to con him into holding her stuff while she shopped. "This isn't something he can just shrug off forever."_

 _"I am well aware, but what happens when he reaches that point once more is what concerns me." Ruel said before turning around and walking off in a seemingly random direction. "Come on, we still need to wake up our young friend here and I do believe there is a hospital over this way."_

 _Taking one last glance at the blonde and green duo, Eva nodded in agreement before following after the old Enutrof._

-And Now-

Inside a plain bedroom, our band of travelers could be found around an equally bland bed that their mysterious sleeping companion was now laid out upon. As he lay unmoving on the soft cotton padding, an Eniripsan man stood over him, a doctor according to the symbols on his outfit, his hands held out above the boy emitting a gentle green glow while he chanted quietly under his breath.

This went on for quite some time, just a little shy of ten minutes to be exact, before the doctor stopped and let his now lightless hands fall to his sides with a tired sigh.

"You were wise to bring this boy here," He said while grabbing a rag from a pocket and wiping the sweat off his brow. "It is definitely Eniripsan magic that is keeping him in this state."

"So you will be able to wake him up then?" Yugo asked with a smile… only for it to quickly fade away when the man shook his head. "What? Why not?"

"Yeah, you just said it is your people's magic so surely you can release its effect on him." Evangeline stated with a frown.

"I'm sorry but it is just not as simple as that," The doctor, who shall be called Doc from now on, stated, earning curious looks from all around until he elaborated. "What keeps the boy under is a complex series of spells, all intricately intertwined with each-other and him to maintain his current condition while keeping him alive. If I were to just dispel them all at once then the sudden surge of magic or even the loss of said magic would likely send him into shock or worse. And undoing them one at a time is just as risky since it could cause the others to act in… undesirable ways."

While most of the group understood what the man was saying, there was of course one certain Iop who was completely lost. "Uuuuh… what?" Dally asked while scratching his head in confusion.

"The doctor can't do anything without possibly killing the boy by accident." Ruel simplified for the orange-haired knight as bluntly as he could.

"Oh! … … …Oh…"

"So there is nothing you can do for him then?" Amalia asked sadly.

"Not personally, I'll have to request a High Cleric to come for assistance." Doc stated, getting Amalia, Eva, and Ruel to perk up while Yugo, Naruto, and Dally looked confused.

"Not to sound stupid, but what's a High Cleric?" The whiskered blonde asked with a raised brow, unknowingly voicing the other two boys' thoughts.

"It's a title given to Eniripsas who've proven themselves to be truly devote in the art of healing magic. It is one of the greatest honors to receive, with only the queen herself or her personally handpicked priests and priestesses outranking them." Eva explained while Doc nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, one of them would almost certainly be able to help in this kind of situation, though it will probably be some time before one arrives."

"Which means we'll have to play the waiting game once more," Ruel grumbled with an exasperated sigh. ' _Well, we still need to resupply and charter a boat to Oma which could take a few days anyway so at least this isn't too ba_ -"

"By the way, before I forget, here's your bill for admission and the examination." Doc said while handing the elderly Enutrof a slip of paper.

Taking just one look at it, Ruel's eyes bugged out to near impossible size before promptly falling over backwards in a dead faint.

"Saw that coming," Eva muttered with a roll of her eyes as she grabbed the bill from the unconscious coot, only to do so again when she saw the total on said paper. "Oh no, a whole ten Kamas, what a terribly unfair price."

"Uh Eva," Amalia started to say, getting the Cra to look towards princess as she, Yugo, and Dally each held out all their money, totaling at exactly ten Kamas altogether. "That may be a bit more problematic then you think."

Realizing what her friend was implying, Eva reached into her coin purse and grimaced when she pulled out a solitary gold coin. Looking down at Ruel again, she kicked his side where she knew his own purse was, only to be meant by the ever-expected feeling of fabric and flesh.

She didn't even have to check with Naruto, the only money he had was no doubt… outdated, to say the least.

"…Crap."

-Ten Minutes Later, Main Square Water fountain-

"Okay, so let me get this straight, we have exactly one Kama to go towards chartering a boat, enough supplies for six possibly seven people, and probably another hospital bill when the young lad we found gets woken up," A now awake Ruel listed off idly from his spot on a bench beside Yugo and Amalia, a magazine in hand that he was only half-reading. "Anyone got any ideas? And don't even think of mentioning my family vault, any treasure in there is strictly off limits."

"Yeah, yeah, we know how Enutrof treasure hoards work you greedy old coot," Eva said with a dismissive wave of one hand while the other idly thumbed over the Kama in her grasp. "Our best bet would be to find some work or something."

"Oh, I could-"

"That would take way too long," Ruel unintentionally cut Naruto off as he flipped the page in his magazine. "I say we just place a few bets on some gobbowl matches, if we're smart enough then we'll have all the money we need in just a few days at most."

"Why don't I just-"

"Oh please, we are not wasting the only Kama we have gambling on that barbaric sport." Eva scoffed with her arms crossed.

"Barbaric? How cruel Evangeline, I'll have you know that I used to be a major league gobbowler once." Ruel said with a frown, tossing his magazine to the side as he stood up.

"Then that just proves my point," The Cra stated with a dull look. "It's an old, archaic, and outdated sport that's just a bunch of dumb meat-heads clobbering each-other."

"How could it be outdated? They update the rules all the time."

"Yeah, with even stupider ones that make less sense than the old ones which are usually removed a week after they are added."

"Oh really, name one time."

"The slip-em-something mid-game break where teams were encouraged to try poisoning their opponents with potions that caused anything from random bloating to diarrhea, repealed because three teams died from actual poison."

"The wording wasn't specific enough, it happens."

"The if-you-break-it bonus where a team got an extra point for every broken bone they got in play, removed when the Gnorking Gobbals ended up permanently crippling themselves from self-inflicted injuries."

"It was meant to discourage breaking the other team's bones, not our fault some idiots decided to break their own instead."

"The foul-fouls where teams were forced to where increasingly rancid clothing for every foul, undone when almost thirty players died of infection, heatstroke, and disease."

"Erm…happenstance?"

As Eva continued to fling out increasingly ridiculous sounding rules and their reasoning for removal, the majority of which were the death of players, while Ruel retorted with a mixture of reasonable and not so reasonable countermarks, the rest of the gang lost interest and did their own things.

Dally wandered off to a nearby set-up of straw dummies that he started hacking away at to practice his sword swings…

"Hey! Stop that! I am not some pathetic training sword!"

…much to Rubilax's displeasure.

Naruto, more than a little annoyed at being cut off not once but twice, also wandered off and after a minute or two was bouncing around the town square, talking to various people and checking out anything that peaked his interest.

Lastly, Amalia and Yugo had grabbed up the mag that Ruel abandoned and were currently reading it curiously while occasionally glancing at the arguing pair.

"I had no idea that Eva hated gobbowl so much." The hatted boy said with a slightly tilted head with Az chirping in agreement as the Tofu landed on his owner's head.

"To be fair, it's not gobbowl itself she dislikes, but major league gobbowling like here in Bonta since it has a much more relaxed following of rules on things like player safety and such," Amalia explained with a shrug while flipping to the next page. "It's definitely the most exciting matches to watch then anywhere, aside from Brakmar who rate almost equally, but it also has the greatest amount of player casualties and forced retirement each year as well, again aside from Brakmar."

"Wow, really? Playing is really that dangerous? I always thought dad was exaggerating when he told me about it." Yugo said while thinking back to his adopted father's tales.

"Uh-huh, just look right here," Amalia said, pointing to one of the many articles they were reading. "Apparently one of the teams playing for the final lost one of their own players recently and are struggling to find a replacement in time for the game."

"Oh man… well I hope these Real Gobbly guys manage," Yugo said sympathetically, neither him or Amalia noticing Ruel suddenly jerk his head towards them as the lad spoke. "It would suck for them to get all the way there only to-Huh?"

Faster then the pair could react, Ruel swiped the magazine from their grasp and began frantically reading through the article they'd been talking about.

"Is it? …it is! I can't believe it!" The elderly man exclaimed as his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Can't believe whaaaa…and he's gone," Eva started to ask, only for the question to turn into a dry statement when the man suddenly bolted off. "We better go make sure he doesn't do anything that gets us into even more trouble."

"Good idea. Naruto! Dally!" Amalia agreed before shouting over her shoulder to get said boys' attention while Eva and Yugo went ahead. "Ruel's run off for some reason and we… have…"

The princess trailed off mid-sentence once the two young men got close, more specifically once Dally did as the Iop hobbled over covered in bruises and bits of straw.

"Uh Dally, are you alright buddy?" Naruto asked with a quirked brow as he got back as well.

"Oh I'm pine, youth shouve shee ve other vuys," The battered warrior mumbled indistinctly while jabbing his thumb behind him where a huge pile of dummies lay, chopped to bits and pieces. "They vought they vere sho swart thrying tho vang upf on ve, vut I showed vem a thing or thwo."

"I don't… I can't… that doesn't even… you know what, I not gonna bother," Amalia said with an exasperated shake of her head before grabbing a hand from either boy and dragging them along. "Let's just go before we fall behind any farther."

"Don't worry Happa-chan, I doubt they got that far."

As the trio left however, none of them noticed as one of the destroyed straw-men slowly lifted its head and stared at their retreating forms with its button eyes.

-Ten More Minutes Later-

"Oh boy, the Gobbowl Hall of Fame and Museum!" Amalia exclaimed happily as the group, Yugo and Eva included, arrived at a large ornate building with huge statues of muscular men holding gobbowl balls just as Ruel vanished inside. "I can't believe I almost forgot about this place, it's one of the greatest places in Bonta to visit. And it looks even bigger than the last time I saw it."

The exact moment after the greenette said that, a large bird decided to take a dump right on top of a statue, causes a few of the group to grimace slightly in disgust as the feces splattered around.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Yugo, having missed the crappy sight due to excitement, exclaimed as he rushed towards the main doors, prompting the others to follow after him a more sedate pace.

"Huh, you weren't kidding Happa-chan, they really went all out with this place," Naruto said, whistling lowly at the massive and well decorated interior, which had massive gold statues, displays of old team uniforms, giant paintings, and even pictures which surprised the blonde slightly. "And you said it used to be smaller?"

"Yep, last time me and Eva visited it was only half this big, remember Eva?" Amalia asked the Cra, her voice full of nostalgia.

"Oh I remember," Eva stated, her prior annoyed expression fading away in favor of a bemused smirk. "You kept getting lost every five minutes because you wouldn't stop running ahead and then almost got us kicked out when you picked up the gobbowl ball from the first official Gobbowl Final."

Instead of getting upset or offended like Yugo and Naruto had expected, Amalia giggled softly as she looked up towards the ceiling. "It was so worth it."

"And what about the photos?" Naruto asked while jabbing a finger towards a section that display dozens of photos about some Osmodian guy who was apparently the worst gobbowler in history. "I mean, you guys were pretty surprised when I showed you mine and my camera, so what's up with that? I was gonna ask earlier when I saw you guys reading that magazine, but it slipped my mind."

"They weren't here before either, if I'd hazard a guess, someone either reinvented or rediscovered that device of yours since the last time we were here," Eva said after thinking it over. "The Sadida Kingdom is rather far away from Bonta so they don't trade often and most Sadidans prefer not to use technology if they can avoid it anyway."

"It goes against our nature, or more precisely, it goes against nature itself." Amalia agreed with a shrug.

"Makes sense I guess, what about you guys?" Naruto asked Dally and Yugo.

"Dad never let me read a magazine before." / "What's a photo again?"

"And that's all I need to know," Naruto stated at the pair's responses before looking around curiously. "Anyone see Irezumi-jiji yet? He couldn't have gotten that far."

"…"

"Guys?" Naruto called out in confusion upon not getting a response before turning his head to find everyone else but an exasperated Eva stopped at a display of famous team uniforms, Yugo and Amalia gushing over how they were still sweaty.

"Ugh, sweaty jerseys, such a disgusting sport." The Cra muttered, her nose crinkled up in annoyance and distaste.

"Really Surudoi-chan? I get you don't like the game and all but do you really have to keep ragging on it like that?" Naruto asked with a quirked brow.

"I don't know Whiskers, do you have to love ramen so much?" Evangeline asked back, her prior annoyance being switched with mild humor as she spoke.

"Touché Surudoi-chan, touché," The whiskered blonde said while chuckling-

"By the holy shovel! Toot! Calben! Posho!"

-before suddenly snapping his head to the side when he heard Ruel's voice yelling out, followed by jovial laughter.

"Whelp, found Ruel," He said upon seeing said Enutrof happily chatting with a pair of old men, a midget fella barely two feet tall with goggles and a dark-skinned man… wearing a diaper, while another old guy wearing a wrestling mask, and a weird innertube and floaties to Naruto's confusion, glared halfheartedly from the sidelines. "Hey Surudoi-chan, are those normal outfits or…"

"They're old fashion trends, very, VERY, old fashioned," Eva stated quickly, she and Naruto watching the quartet suddenly grow somber and walk into a small curtained room. Eyes widening slightly in recognition of what that room was for, Eva sighed softly before grabbing Naruto's arm and leading him off in another direction. "Come on, we found out what was up with him, now we can get out of here before the smell makes me puke."

Chuckling as he was practically dragged along towards the exit, Naruto rolled his eyes as he went along with the archer. "Yeah, yeah, sure, who knew you were such a drama queen Surudoi-chan. Anyway, now that we got a moment, I wanted to talk to you about something."

This statement caused Eva to stop right before the exit, her head jerking towards the whiskered blonde. "Really, something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," He said, waving off her concern with a grin. "I just had a few ideas on how we could-*Shwup*-huh?"

For what had to be the dozenth time this day Naruto found himself cut off, this time by a vine suddenly flying between the two blondes and wrapping itself around the whiskered boy's waist. All either of them had time to do was blink in surprise before the plant just as quickly retracted from whence it came with Naruto in tow.

The next thing the ancient ninja knew, he was on the other side of the museum, forced to hunch over slightly as Amalia hugged his shoulder excitedly.

"Check it out Naruto! It's the Gobbowl ball Eva and I were telling you about! From the first official Gobbowl final!" She exclaimed while pointing to a pedestal that had a very old and worn out looking Gobbowl ball encased in a thick glass box. "Look! You can still see my handprints on it! Isn't that awesome! Oh you should've seen it when I had picked it up. It had been in an open exhibit and the guy guarding it had fallen asleep. I was so excited that I just couldn't help myself…"

Unfortunately for Amalia, due to her excitement the greenette was utterly oblivious to several things as she gushed over the old relic.

The first was how Naruto's face was barely even an inch from her own.

The second was that said face had rapidly turned a bright red as steam poured out of the blonde's ears, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to say something only for his own embarrassment and Amalia's constant rambling preventing him from getting out a single word.

Finally, and most importantly, was that his blushing had nothing to do with the proximity of their faces one bit.

This was something Evangeline was able to figure out quickly upon joining the pair, her keen eyes quickly pick up one more key detail which made a light blush crop up on her cheeks before a wide smirk crossed her lips. "Hey Amalia."

"…And the guards chased us all over the…" The Sadida princess kept rambling for a few moments on before her brain registered the call, causing her to look over towards her friend/bodyguard, her brow rising upon seeing the Cra's expression. "Uuuh, hi Eva, what's with the creepy smile?"

"Oh nothing," Eva said casually, her smirk widening slightly as she spoke while clapping a hand over Yugo's eyes when the curious boy and his Tofu also joined them. "I'm just imagining what's about to happen in the next minute or so."

"What are you talking about Eva? And why are you covering Yugo's eyes?" Amalia asked, for some reason a trickled down her spine.

"Yeah! What's going on?" Yugo added while trying fruitlessly to pry Eva's hand away.

Now grinning as widely as physically possible at this point, Eva giggled and point down in the plant girl's direction. "I should be asking you that Amalia, I had no idea that you were so forward."

"Forward? What in Sadida's name… are you…" Amalia started to demand, only to trail off as her gaze wandered downwards, her eyes widening so much in the process that they looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

You see, it turned out when she grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and pulled him closer, she inadvertently pushed his arm up to her chest, right between her breasts to be exact. If that wasn't bad enough however, due to whiskered blonde being just over a foot taller than the greenette, his arm was easily longer than her torso thus resulting in his hand resting right on top of her-

-Town Square-

" **EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!** "

-End Chapter-

AN: Alright, sorry for another filler chap but I guarantee next up is the gobbowl match. Hope you all liked the chapter and please review.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own any from the Naruto or Wakfu franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming

Thanks for reading and please enjoy

Wakfu: Chronicles of the Lost Ninja

-Chapter 17-

 _-Last Time-_

 _You see, it turned out when she grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and pulled him closer, she inadvertently pushed his arm up to her chest, right between her breasts to be exact. If that wasn't bad enough however, due to whiskered blonde being just over a foot taller than the greenette, his arm was easily longer than her torso thus resulting in his hand resting right on top of her-_

 _-Town Square-_

 _ **"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"**_

-And Now, Team Real Gobbly Room-

"Sheesh, what happened to those two?" Ruel asked with a raised brow as he and his old friends Calben, the short mostly bald guy with goggles, and Posho, the skinny seemingly blind guy wearing a diaper watched Eva carried a blushing and sputtering Amalia into the room and set her down in a chair.

At the same time, a flustered Naruto speed walked over to the exact opposite side of the room and leaned against the wall while staring out a nearby window. Meanwhile, a very confused looking Dally and Yugo both shrugged as they entered the room.

"Heh, I'll tell you later." Eva said with a barely suppressed giggle before suddenly jumping back to avoid the vine that whipped at her.

"You tell anybody what just happened and I'll use your corpse as fertilizer!" Amalia yelled, several more vines rising up around her in a threatening manner while she eyed her friend with a burning glare that was completely ruined by her equally burning face.

"Yeah, yeah, or throw me into the dungeon till I'm an old maid," The Cra said with an amused roll of her eyes, idly ducking another attempted plant slap while turning her attention back to Ruel and Co. "Anyway, not to skip over your little reunion but we still have to figure out how to earn enough money for our trip."

"Hey, I have-"

"Not anymore my dear Evangeline, for I have found us the perfect solution to all our problems." Ruel said cheerily, unintentionally cutting off Naruto once again.

Rolling her eyes as the old Enutrof spoke, Eva almost instantly lost the humor on her face while massaging the side of her head. "Let me guess, it has something to do with Gobbowl?"

"Please hear me out before you go dismissing what I have to say," Ruel said, getting a soft scoff from the Cra but otherwise motioned for him to continue speaking. "Look, tomorrow Real Gobbly plays against Lamechester United for the Gobbowl Final, and the winning team will get 10,000 Kamas but their two players short. We help them in just one quick game and we'll have more than enough to pay for everything we need."

"You mean IF we won."

"Well do you have a better idea?"

"…"

Silence filled the room while a strong tension built up between himself and Eva, the pair just staring at each-other with unreadable expressions. Finally, after almost a solid minute, the Cra turned away with her arms crossed and a scowl on her lips. "…Fine, we'll play."

"Great!" Grinning in victory, Ruel wasted no time heading off outside, only stopping long enough to motion the rest of the group to follow. "Let's not waste any time then, time to see what you young'uns know."

"We get to play gobbowl!" Yugo cheered happily while following after the old Enutrof along with Calben, Posho, an equally excited Dally, a resigned Eva, and still pretty flustered Amalia. The only one not moving was Naruto, who opted to stay where he was with a deep frown on his lips and his eyebrow twitching rapidly.

"That's it, somebody is getting pranked." He muttered sourly while pushing off the wall and cracking his knuckles menacingly.

At that exact moment, everyone else felt a shiver run down their spines, warning of the impending doom awaiting them. Sadly for them, that warning would go unheeded as they quickly shook it off and Naruto caught up with them, none of them noticing the hint of mischief twinkling in his eyes.

"So… how exactly does this gobbowl game work exactly?" The whiskered blonde asked, getting a few stunned looks from Ruel's friends while the old Enutrof himself clapped the boy on the back.

"Well my boy, it's rather simple-"

-One long incredibly confusing explanation later-

"…And that is pretty much it, any questions?" Ruel asked, him and Naruto now seated on a bench watching as Yugo, Dally, and Amalia frantically run laps around a jogging track as a heard of angry black Gobbals chased them whilst Eva stood on the sidelines with a deep-set deadpan.

"Not really, seems simple enough," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I just got to get the ball to the goal and I'm not allowed to use jutsu to do so, right?"

"Couldn't have summed it up better myself," The Enutrof said with an approving nod. "However, while it may sound easy you have to remember that the opposing team is going to be doing their damnedest to make sure you don't."

"Hai, Hai, which is why I have to keep my eye out for any sneaky business like fake-outs or cheating," Naruto said while Ruel nodded again before the whiskered blonde tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. "You know, can it actually be called cheating though if its technically allowed in a sense? I mean, cheating is when you break the rules yet you just said that the rules say underhanded stuff like cheating is allowed… as long as your either not caught or pay a bribe at least."

"Eh, you're right but people will still call it cheating anyway, mostly those going on about stuff like morals and player constitution," Ruel said, shrugging as he stood up with a grin. "Now enough with the chit-chat, let's see how well you can actually play."

Grinning right back, Naruto was a bit more enthusiastic as he pushed himself into the air and flipped right over the elderly Enutrof before landing perfectly in the middle of the training field with a wide grin. "I'm ready when you are."

"Hmph, showoff," Ruel muttered good-naturedly as he slipped on a glove, picked up a gobbowl ball from a nearby bin, and moved to the nearest goal end. "Okay blondie, let's start simple, just catch the ball and try to get past me with it. Think you can do that?"

"Piece of cake-Ttebayo." The whiskered blonde retorted confidently as he got into a casual ready stance, cracking his neck for added emphasis.

However, as this was happening neither Ruel or Naruto noticed as Eva finally lost her prior apathetic-ness upon seeing the duo step out onto the field.

"Haa… Haa… Hey look… Ruel and Naruto… haa… are squaring off." At the same time, a very tired Yugo trudged to a stop as he wheezed for air with Amalia and Dally joining him a few moments later when the gobbals gave up pursuit in favor of munching on some grass.

"Whoo… kick that old codgers… butt Naruto." Amalia tried to cheer, only for it to come out a weak wheezing gasp as she doubled over, sweat practically pouring from her skin.

' _Hmph, cocky little brat, let's see how well he handle's my patented Stroud Special,'_ Ruel thought while slowly winding his arm back, gritting his teeth as he focused all his strength towards the upcoming throw. Then, just as he snapped his arm forward, a blue gem embedded in the side of his glove began to glow brightly before the gobbowl ball launched from his grasp like a cannon shot.

Zooming through the air in a near-imperceptible blur, it only took a split-second for the oddly shaped ball to cross the field as it hurtled toward Naruto. Yet despite this, the whiskered blonde didn't even so much as flinch, his pose still completely neutral and calm as impeding pain was mere milliseconds awa-

Gone.

"Huh?" Ruel couldn't help but voice his confusion as both Naruto and the gobbowl ball seemed to vanish into thin air just before the latter could hit the former. Not even a second later, the old man felt a sudden rush of wind pass by him and reflexively spun around to see the missing blonde now standing at the field goal, the same grin on his lips as he held up the gobbal fur sphere with a lightly smoking hand.

"So, how was that?" Naruto asked casually while lightly tossing the ball up and spinning it on his fingertip.

' _Fast!'_ Ruel, Dally, Amalia, and Yugo unknowingly thought at the same time, their eyes nearly bugging out of their skulls at what they just saw. The only one that didn't look surprised was Eva, who instead had an amused smile on her lips as she took in everyone's expressions.

"By Enutrof!" A male voice shouted out, snapping everyone back to the present as Toot came marching onto the field with a flabbergasted expression, Calben and Posho right behind him with similar looks on their faces. Going right past Ruel, the floatie-wearing Enutrof went straight for Naruto. "You got some impressive legs on ya brat, I haven't seen someone run that fast since the Emporg made his debut in Brakmar over fifty years ago."

"What can I say, I aim to please." Naruto said with a shrug, idly tossing the gobbowl ball over his shoulder as he spoke.

"Indeed you do," Toot muttered, giving the blonde one last look over before turning towards Ruel with a mixture of emotions on his face, both positive and negative. "I'll admit Ruel, you may be a no good two-bit deserting scumbag but it seems you still got a good nose for sniffing out talent."

"And your tongue is still as sharp as a razor," Ruel said, dramatically raising a hand to his chest with a faux hurt expression. "Come on old friend, I know we didn't part on the best of terms but-"

"Best of terms?! Of course we didn't! You up and vanished on us one day to become a bounty hunter!" Toot cut Ruel off angrily. "No warning! No goodbye! You didn't even give us time to find a replacement for you!"

"Okay… so it was pretty bad terms…"

"No kidding you two-faced varmint!"

"Oh now you're just being petty toot."

Sweatdropping as the pair continued to launch retorts, barbs, and insults back and forth, Naruto gradually inched away from the arguing old men until he was standing next to Evangeline. "I think this is our cue to give them some privacy."

"Definitely." The blonde archer said before they both retreated from the area, with Amalia, Yugo, and Dally tagging along a few moments later when both men started bawling their eyes out and hugging it up.

Once Ruel and Toot were done burying the hatchet, the next several hours would seem to fly by in a blur as they ran the whole group through various drills, mock matches, and exercises that left even Naruto winded. Though that was mostly because he wasn't allowed to use any chakra to boost himself like he normally would.

He wasn't the only one struggling with such issues either, as Amalia would keep instinctually trying to use her vines to catch the ball, Dally accidentally using his equipment at bad times which generally resulted in him eating dirt, and Yugo forgetting he was not supposed to use his portals. Eva and Ruel were the only ones who didn't have much trouble, though it was clear Ruel had more than a little rust after not playing for so long.

Still, they at least managed to hammer down the basics before calling it a day and everyone headed to bed to get a good night's rest for the game tomorrow.

-The Next Day-

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Really Ruel, I can't believe you tried to pull such a stupid stunt," An annoyed Eva said, dragging the old Enutrof along by the ear as she and the rest of the group marched down the halls of the Gobbowl Arena. "I mean seriously, planning to let us oversleep just for some old gag, have you finally gone senile?"

"Hey! It was tradition! Ouch! We did it every game-Ow- to unnerve our opponents!" Ruel yelped out while fruitlessly trying to get his ear free of the Cra's iron grip.

"And pray tell, exactly how many times did that actually work?"

"Honestly not once, the only ones who got unnerved by it were us." Posho stated casually before Ruel could retort, earning a brief glower of betrayal from the old man.

"Of course it wouldn't, you guys were probably too busy wheezing and sweating from your last minute sprint to be even remotely intimidating," Amalia muttered with a roll of her eyes before turning towards Naruto with an appreciative smile, a tinge of red appearing on her cheeks as she did so. "Thank Sadida you made that clone to wake us up on time just in case."

"No problem Happa-chan, always happy to help," The whiskered blonde said, chuckling softly at Ruel's self-earned misfortune while he stretched his arms. "Besides, I had a feeling Irezumi-jiji would try something funny."

"That's Ruel for you, he has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve," Yugo said while laughing nostalgically. "You should have seen all the ways he'd try conning my dad for a free meal whenever he visited."

"I can imagine."

"Alright ladies, that's enough of the pillow talk!" Toot called out as the group stepped into their team's assigned room. "We got fifteen minutes till game time, I want you all dressed and ready in five! Understood!?"

"Yeah, yeah, we got it, there's no need to yell jiji." Naruto said with a dismissive wave as the group head into their changing rooms.

"Oh boy, I can't believe we get to play official gobbowl match!" Amalia exclaimed once she and Eva stepped into the women's side, dancing in place energetically. "This is so exciting! Don't you agree Eva!"

"Yeah, sure, I'm absolutely thrilled to play this barbarous sport." The archer muttered sarcastically as she walked right past her charge and straight towards the series of nooks set in the far wall, specifically towards a pair in the middle which had their bundled up outfits within.

Stopping in her impromptu jig, Amalia rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and giving her friend an amused stare. "Do you have to be such a rotten citranana? It's not that bad and who knows, you might actually have fun."

"I'm not taking that kind of advice from the girl who threw a tantrum for almost three hours when your father made you take cooking classes." Eva retorted, causing Amalia's face to flush in embarrassment.

"Oh come on, that was a long time ago."

"It was three months before we left the Sadida Kingdom Amalia."

"Well I… erm… I mean… … …shut up Eva."

"Oh no, how hurtful," Eva said, smirking at the now sour glare Amalia was giving her before almost immediately losing any trace of humor upon grabbing a piece of her uniform and looking it over. "By the way Amalia, you might want to take a look at these before you get your hopes up too much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The princess asked with a quirked brow, only to quickly dawn a look of shock when the blonde elf-girl turned around to show her the top in her grasp. That shock then just as swiftly turned to anger as evident by the many, MANY tick marks which appeared on the greenette's forehead and the loud grinding of her teeth.

-Meanwhile, Team Entrance Area-

"RUUUUUEL!"

"Heh, sounds like the girls found their uniforms," Ruel said with a nervous chuckle as the rage-filled scream rang out over the muffled fanfare. ' _Oh boy, this idea was way funnier sounding in my head.'_

"What did you do this time?" Naruto asked the old man dully, his face set in a complete deadpan that was shared by everyone but Dally, who just looked confused.

Most of them were still wearing their normal outfits, but with small additions such boost shoes, and/or strength gloves. Yugo had the number ten loosely stitched to his helmet, Ruel wore a fluffy looking helmet, and both Dally and Posho carried odd shields shaped like weird blocky faces. The only real noticeable difference was Naruto, who'd opted to go without his sage coat or his normal orang and black jacket and instead wore a plain black t-shirt that hung somewhat loosely.

Before said Enutrof could say anything in response to the whiskered blonde's question though, the answer came forth in the form of one extremely PO'd sadidan princess and a blank-faced cra marching up to the group. The reason for this was not hard to figure out as both of them were dressed in moderately revealing cheerleading outfits, completely with pom-poms and bunny-ear headbands.

Stomping right up to the elderly Enutrof, Amalia glared angrily and jabbed a finger into his chest with enough force to make him stumble back a few steps. "You dirty liar! You never planned to let Eva or me to play at all, did you?!"

"Erm, well, I'm sorry my dear Amalia but with Naruto as our secodnary receiver, Yugo our backup sprinter, me going as the main receiver, and Dally as a blocker we already have a full-*Thud* *Fwo-Thwap*- _sweet mother of Enutrof!_ " Ruel started to say as sweat poured from his forehead, before squealing in pain when the greenette stomped her foot, causing a root to shoot straight up between his legs.

As the poor man fell over into a fetal position, Amalia grumbled angrily under her breath while stomping back over to where Eva was standing whilst the rest of the males instinctually covered their privates.

"Toot… explain… game plan… thank you." Ruel groaned out in a squeaky tone after a few moments of while continuing to rock back and forth in agony.

Sighing in exasperation, the floatie wearing Enutrof stepped up before the group and cleared his throat before speaking. "Alright, the plan is simple. Me, Ruel, Posho, Calbien, and Dally will go out on the field for the first quarter where we'll test out the waters and see just how good these Lamechester fellows really are. Play to win but don't go the extra mile yet if you don't need too because we'll still have three more quarters to go afterwards, got it?"

"Makes sense, can't waste all our strength at the start or we'll be to tired for the end boss." Dally said with a grin while everyone else just nodded.

"Exactly boyo, now if we do well we'll stay the course in the next quarter and see how it goes from there before strategizing further," Toot stated, once again getting a round of nods. "On the other hand, if we end up getting trampled then Naruto, I'll have you swap out with Ruel to even the odds but at the same time try to keep a clamp on your true speed if you can. The longer we can save that little trump card, the less time Lamechester will have to try and find a counter for it."

"Got it-Ttebayo." Said whiskered blonde said cheerily.

"And finally, Eva," During this whole conversation, Evangeline had an expression of bored resignation written all over her face. However, the moment the blonde heard her name, that look snapped to confusion as her attention shot up. "I want you to watch the enemy closely both on and off the field, keep a keen eye out for any funny business they might be up to or anything we can use to our advantage."

"Oh… uh… sure, you got it." She muttered somewhat unsurely, caught off guard by the fact she was given an actually task. She was honestly expecting something like-

"Oh, and don't forget to act girly."

' _There it is.'_ Eva thought as her deadpan returned full force.

At the same time, a loud booming rang out, followed by muffled yelling.

"Alright, that's our que guys." An inexplicably recovered Ruel said as he popped up from the floor and pulled a previously unnoticed lever on the wall which then made the large pair of gates before the group to slowly grind open and thus revealing the arena.

The field was huge, with intricate colored circles laid out all over, the symbols for Team Real Gobbly set out on one half along with a shaded bench while the same for Lamechester United on the other. (Google Gobbowl Field for better description)

Similarly, the stands surrounding the field were divided up by team, with the mostly empty left side being for Real Gobbly, the almost overpacked right for Lamechester, and finally the middle sections being neutral.

" **Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Are you all ready for a fabulastical game of Gobbowl!?** " A energetic and cheerful voice called out through several speakers threaded through the arena, connected to a watch-tower where a short redheaded man could just be seen. Upon his question, the whole stadium erupted into cheers. **"Of course you are! So let's not waste any time and get right too it shall we!? Today is a competion for the right to move up to seventh precinct! On the defending team we have the underdog locals Real Gobbly!"**

Once again cheers rang out while Ruel, Dally, Posho, Calbien, and Toot stepped onto the field, though not nearly in as great of volume as before and with a not so small amount of booing and jeering coming from the Lamechester side.

"Hey look guys!" Yugo yelled, pointing up at Real Gobbly's side of the stand as he, Amalia, Naruto, and Eva took up seats on their team's bench. "Check it out, Kabrok and Miranda are here!"

"Who?" Naruto asked with a raised brow while instinctually gazing towards where the boy was pointing to see an elderly Osmodian guy and a sensually dressed Ecaflip woman holding a Real Gobbly flag sitting together in the mostly empty stands, barely listening as the announcer did their team's introductions.

"Some people we met during our travels before we found you- *BWWAAAAAAAAM!* they were the ones who sold us the talking map," Amalia explained, pausing briefly when Kabrok pulled out an odd rubber duck and squeezed it, releasing a nearly defeating airhorn sound. "They specialize in magical knickknacks."

"Oh… neat." The blonde said with a nod.

" **And now, for the ones you've all been waiting for! I give you folks LAMECHESTER UNITED!"** Turning his attention back to the field, Naruto was just in time to see the opposing team walk onto the field.

" **Starting off we have none other than Kriss Krass!"** An athletically built Sacrier guy with deeply tanned skin, shaggy grey hair, and a heart tattoo on his chest pretended to punch the air with a lolling tongue grin. " **He's a sly guy who's born to cheat, the leader of Lamechester United and their receiver!"**

" **Next up we have Monty 'Shot-blocker!"** An overly buff Osmodian guys stood on all fours, acting like a rabid dog as he viciously chewed up a gobbowl ball. " **A tuff guy for sure, but with a win loss record like his you have to wonder if he's the ball!"**

 **"Jay the pitcher, otherwise known as 'the catapult'!"** A tall and super muscular Iop posed dramatically as the crowd cheered. " **Best watch out of he'll knock you clean out fo the arena with his patented catapult grapple!"**

" **Moving swiftly onto Jeremy!"** Another Iop, only have as tall but still incredibly muscular, who broke a weird gobbal style axe over his knee. " **Also known as the 'pedigree chump', he's known t ogo out of his way to knock out some of his opponents' teeth!"**

 **"And lastly but definitely not least we have the return of Benji,"** A super short Enutrof with his face covered in a goggled mask ran onto the field at high speed, kicking up a cloud of dirt that quickly faded to show his face drawn in the grass. " **The team's oldest player and their speedster!"**

"Uuuuh… why are people throwing their underwear at him?" Naruto asked with a raised brow as he watched several women, and a few men, in the crowd took off their underpants and tossed it towards the still posing short speedster.

"They're just being a bunch of Iop-brains," Eva stated in a dry tone, waving her hand dismissively at her fellow blonde's question. "Don't think about it too much or it'll kill your IQ."

"Alright, if you say so." Naruto said while the two teams started to square off at the center of the field, Kriss and Ruel tossing a few stinging comments at each-other and the goalie, a short fellow riding on a gobbal, galloped out to stand between them with a gobbowl ball.

"Is everybody ready?" The goalie asked, hopping up into a standing position as he spoke. Getting just a set of silent nods from the team leaders, he grunted in understanding before suddenly lobbing the fluffy sphere straight into the air.

 **"And here we go!"** Acting fast, Ruel and Kriss leapt after the ball in a bid to get to it first, which sadly for the former ended in failure as the latter was just a touch faster. Grabbign the ball with a grin, the Sacrier immediately started to line up a pass, only to pause briefly upon seeing the field.

The moment the ball went airborne, Real Gobbly had taken on a mixed offense/defense maneuver, with Posho and Calbien falling back towards their goal while Dally and Toot headed for left and right field respectively. Meanwhile, Lamechester went full offense, Monty and Jay charging left field and Jeremy and Benji taking right. In the end, both sides got mixed amounts of success, with poor Toot getting trampled in a blink by Jeremy leaving Posho and Calbien to intercept him and Benji while Dally met Monty and Jay mid-charge and despite the clear size difference was surprisingly able to stop them both cold.

" **Straight to the action! No hesitation! No holdback! Such an ablolasticastatic display! That's the beauty of Gobbowl right there folks!"** The announcer called out cheerily. **"Lamechester has the ball but it seems Real Gobbly aren't letting them go with it, not without a fight at least!"**

' _Hmph, not bad for a bunch of old fools and a rookie,'_ Kriss thought, his gaze snapping around quickly to take in where everyone was before the grin on his lips widened as he focused back on Ruel who was right in front of him now with a hand reaching for the ball in his grasp. ' _But still not good enough.'_

"Gotch-huh?" Just a second before Ruel could swipe the ball, the Sacrier suddenly grabbed the old man's arm and used it as leverage to flip himself upside in midair. Then, not giving his opponent any time to react, Kriss chucked the gobbowl ball back towards Monty and Jay.

"Monty! Gobbal Rush!" Kriss yelled as he righted himself just in time to land perfectly in a crouch and burst into a sprint. Snapping his attention away from the deadlock he was in with Dally upon hearing his name called, Monty caught the ball with one hand and stuffed it into Jay's arms before grabbing the Iop with both arms and literally hurling the player into the air.

" **My oh my! After a Gobbowltastic pass by Kriss, Monty has actually tossed his own teammate with the gobbowl ball! What could they be planning?!"**

Right as the announcer asked this, Jay passed the ball over to Benji as the short Enutrof passed below him with Calbien right behind him while the Iop let gravity do its thing as he crashed back to the ground.

" **Benji has the ball and is making his way to the goal! But Calbien's hot on his tail! Will he make it or-Uh-oh, looks like he's got even more company now!"**

"Got'cha you little varmint!" Toot yelled as he cut off the sprinter's path and making a move to steal the ball, before grunting in surprise when the shorter man grabbed his face and vaulted right over him.

"Kriss!" Instead of continuing to run though, Benji spun on his heel the moment he touched earth again and tossed the ball towards his team leader as he was sprinting by. However, his aim was off by a few feet and he ended up sending it right to Ruel instead, who was noticeably surprised yet pleased by the sudden development.

" **What!? Can it be!? Has Benji missed his mark!?** "

"Alrighty boy, now we'll show you how… we… play…" Ruel started to say happily, only to end up trailing off midsentence when he noticed a growing shadow surrounding him, prompting to look up with a place just in time to see Jay, Kriss, and Monty descending on him with wicked grins. "Oh son of a-"

*THUD* *SMACK* *CRACK*

All of Team Real Gobbly winced as Ruel was dogpiled by the three plays, the impact kicking up a large cloud of dust while the sounds of pain grunts, war cries, and the familiar sound of fist hitting flesh rang out.

" **Oh boy that's gotta hurt! Turns out it wasn't a mistake at all! It was all a trap set by Lamechester!"**

"He sounds waaay to happy about that." Naruto muttered, giving the announcer booth an annoyed look before turning back to the field with concern on his face as Lamechester finally stopped their beatdown and an old Eniripsa woman floated out onto the field to treat his wounds.

"Welcome to the beauty of Gobbowl." Eva chipped in sarcastically.

-End Chapter-

AN: Sorry for the cut-off but I'm a bit behind on my updates and I got a lot of stories to work on. That said, I do hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please review.


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